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Issue 53

POETS

AGNEW, ZACH
ANDERSON, DUANE
BJOTVEDT, CONNOR
COTTRELL, SUZANNE
CURRO, STEPHEN
DEPAUL, MARIA
DICKSON, JULIE
DIMACALI, DIDIMAY
DOLLANO, ANA MARIE
DOVE, RICHARD
ESTABROOK, MICHAEL
FAHEY, MARY CRANE
FLANAGAN, MICHAEL
FLAVIN, FRANCIS
GRETZER, STEPHEN
GUNN, MARY
HAMLIN, ANDREW
HATTER, SHASTA
HAWKHEAD, JOHN
KAMP, LIANNE
LARSON, JODY
LEVINE, BRUCE
MCQUOID, SYDNEY
MELTON, BILL
MICHALSKI, PENNY
MILLER, DEAN K
MONTGOMERY , JENNIFER
NIELSEN, AYAZ DARYL
NYSTRAND, KASHA
O'BIER, WILLIAM
PELLA, PATRICIA
PLANKO, CHRISTA
RAY, ANTHONY
ROBINSON, JACKIE MAUGH
ROSSI, PATRICIA
SALVER, ANGELL LYNN
SARGENT, ANGELA
SARNAT, GERARD
SAVISHINSKY, JOEL
SCHUTTER, MARY R. P.
SCOTT, CLAIRE
SILVERFOX, EDEN
SIMON, TERRI
TINKCOM, MARINA
VORK, JR
WALKER-LASS, DEBBIE
WASILEWSKI, NELLS
WELD-CARY, PAULA
WOOD, CHRIS
ZEMPEL, RACHEL

Gerard Sarnat



As your income tanks,
gougers leverage shortages,
ramp up food prices.




Bruce Levine



Hidden by masks
And social distancing
We live in a brave new world




Ana Marie Dollano



I hear the strange emptiness
of a bustling city turned
bleak, in the wink of an eye




Duane Anderson



Loss of job
no food on table
another species gone extinct




Terri Simon



It took a pandemic
for me to clear the laundry
off my treadmill




Penny Michalski



Cry drops flowed down
Her wrinkled cheek.
She'll never again kiss him goodnight.




Marina Tinkcom



your eyes give it all away - now
for certain, no frowns, no smiles
robbed by a cheeky bandana




Francis Flavin



Silent wanderer of the void,
Alone on your dark journey
To fatal incandescence.




Rachel Zempel



escaping the house
sea of anonymous masks
toilet paper hunt




Mary Crane Fahey



tent cities in parks and parking lots
each one an epicenter spills over
ventilator driven death dances




Jennifer Montgomery



still, disquieting
dust sun-dancing macabre
grass tears up with dew




Christa Planko



Social distancing: a newfangled practice—
Avoiding crowds, evading contact—
Introversion: an ageless art




Shasta Hatter



song of ice cream
children dance six feet apart
along this shared road




Ayaz Daryl Nielsen



doors and windows locked
holding creased and weathered hands
watching evening news




Connor Bjotvedt



Digest. Wait. Listen.
It's spring summer. I smell rebirth.
Someone saved a life.




John Hawkhead



lockdown
sometimes the old teapot
seems heavier




Nells Wasilewski



quarantine kept us home
masks became the new fashion
hiding from a devil virus




Chris Wood



Life abandoned,
if only for a moment
Let's shelter in place




Michael Estabrook



And now because we're "elderly"
we must eschew crowds like
old mud turtles buried in a river bank.




Maria DePaul



Children home from school
Write sidewalk chalk Thank You notes
To first responders




Stephen Curro



April sunshine
the playground quiet
as a grave




Andrew Hamlin



Fifth week of the plague...
a moth, trapped in the train
flits between seats




Richard Dove



starved of hosts
the virus suspects
a conspiracy




Eden Silverfox



In these days of ruin
Sense and reason
Fall on deaf ears




Michael Flanagan



so weary
in the rain outside the ER
she bums a smoke




Anthony Ray



it is not just old
the virus knows not color
a multitude dead




Lianne Kamp



these days my kitchen windows
frame the neighborhood
into a still life series




Joel Savishinsky



Veils, shawls, burqas, shrouds -
looking in the eyes of others, we see
at last our own masked selves.




Patricia Pella



unmasked
the universe
still unfolding




Stephen Gretzer



I wear the mask, yet
no invitation to the party
where trillions dance




Paula Weld-Cary



We cannot shake hands
but can bow to the good
in each other.




Patricia Rossi



spring fashion arrival
wardrobe "must haves"
latex gloves mask ensemble




Jackie Maugh Robinson



for want
of another's touch
hugging the mirror




Debbie Walker-Lass



Duct-taped one-way lines
Mask, gloves, wipe, six feet, eyes straight
Labyrinth, aisle two




Zach Agnew



Cautious feet trace familiar streets,
The new silence of the road,
Bringing both comfort and unease.




Mary R. P. Schutter



Contagious and deadly virus
Creates havoc around the globe
The plot of a sci-fi movie




Didimay Dimacali



Is it now the norm
To wait for a text message
Which reads NEGATIVE?




Suzanne Cottrell



Covid-19, respiratory wildfire,
out of control, unable to extinguish
Hopeful for a vaccine, but when?




Angela Sargent



Parking lot littered in gloves
Inside, strangers become friends
Bonding over rare finds




William O'Bier



Life's fragile moments
create threads of memories
that last forever.




Bill Melton



bodies in trailers
Hart Island mass burials
New York in chaos




Dean K Miller



In just one second
A breath, a pause,
Life renewed in the next breath




Kasha Nystrand



Spending time with grandparents
During COVID19 pandemic
Virtual hugs and kisses




Julie Dickson



Sisters masked
stand six feet apart
missing hugs




JR Vork



family trees
sway gently in the wind
our new normal




Sydney McQuoid



Eyes upon those oblivious
to six feet. Patience walks
far away when anger takes hold




Jody Larson



No destinations, appointment book blank,
I measure out my plodding indoor days
one potato chip after another.




Claire Scott



not with a bang or a whimper
but with Amazon trucks
ruling deserted streets




Mary Gunn



click & collect . . .
groceries brought to my car
by a masked employee




Angell Lynn Salver



Darfur rapists return
wearing N95 masks
no shame their eyes.







© Copyright 2020; Glenn Lyvers; Prolific Press Inc. All Rights Reserved.