Afternoon of January 2, 2026

 

Open for submissions again: Horror Senryu Journal

https://horrorkujournal.blogspot.com/

Send your short poems: Password

https://veryshortpoetry.com/submissions/

you tell me

“your poems have

no titles”

i nod my head

and say,

“neither does

my life.”

~Tom Blessing

lunar city

green domes

in a barren plain

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

even when dreaming

he had no butterfly-gene expression

~Patrick Sweeney

Two Ton Tony Galento

always got to say his name twice

~Patrick Sweeney

The best things in life are free, but so are the worst.

~Gloria Parker

taking down

the old church sign

end times

~Ingrid Bruck

moon skeleton

in morning sky

night’s echo

~Jennifer Gurney

Such a bleeding heart

She’s gonna need

a transfusion

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

my life

dry as the urban

landscape

I follow a maple leaf

calling it poetry

~Jackie Chou

daydreams

and fairytales --the voices

in my head

~M. R. Pelletier

punchbowl drunk

a thirsty mouse

finds the holiday ladle

~Douglas J. Lanzo

unpaid overtime

the plink clink of ice pellets

on the window

~Joshua St. Claire

fifth interview

the HR VP asks me

who Joshua St. Claire is

~Joshua St. Claire

she says the dog

is fixed now

third quarter moon

~Joshua St. Claire

Ode to Art Cinema 12-31-25

gonna start the new year right

with Harry Smith reel tight

lightshow videos of the Fugs

down on the Bowery with some poetry thugs

Harry's string theory weaving some songs

living lives where we don't quite belong

seeking nirvana with a shotgun swagger

                      his circles & squares still stagger

~dan smith

my thumb counts four

~Allen David Simon

setting the record straight no one

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

how can

one day change so much

new year

~Jennifer Gurney

whole to-do list

for the coming year

1. to live



~Oscar Luparia

breaking my resolution

to never publish again

~Douglas J. Lanzo

we always

think we have more time

until we don’t

~Jennifer Gurney

Open now (only until filled): Akitsu Quarterly

http://www.wildgraces.com/akitsu-quarterly

Submit by January 11: Golden Haiku Competition

https://goldentriangledc.com/event/golden-haiku/

Afternoon of December 28, 2025

 

Christmas morning

my cat gifts me

a hairball

~John J. Dunphy

Christmas swim -

the indifferent sea

swallows two men

~Penny Lowery

I watch the fruitcake

gifted to us

by our neighbor

being devoured by

a squirrel

~John J. Dunphy

We ordered Christmas dinner

and then forgot the restaurant closed at 12.

There will be no Christmas dinner.

We may have to eat the elves.

~Noah Berlatsky

Christmas Eve

no room at

the homeless shelter

~John J. Dunphy

burning log -


deep winter

outside

~Maria Cristina Pulvirenti

Get sick

Get well

It’s hard to tell

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

The edge


Of disarrayed change


Screeching window crows

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

re dact

un re dact

re re dact

dact

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

in the beehive democracy

~Tejendra Sherchan

snowflakes changing my point of view


~Cezar Ciobîcă

war dove

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

you too can be a conjunction

~Tiffany Rindler

the dusk you dream of becoming

~Tiffany Rindler

i was

the river

and so

were you

~Tiffany Rindler

just now

watching the sun

become a black hole

~Sharon Ferrante

when I mix red and green

      and yellow and blue

I get only brown


~Mark Gilbert

forgetting/

her/

number/

forgetting/

mine/

~Mark Gilbert

pushing this cage on wheels

from room to room,

never complaining,

and yet she’s a Capricorn,

like me

~Mark Gilbert

Roswell, New Mexico

its first tourist from

another planet

~John J. Dunphy

writer's block


the chatbot encourages me


to change my muse

~Cezar Ciobîcă

winter evening


the stone angel asks


for a hug


~Cezar Ciobîcă

happy new year

don’t disillusion me…

sounding like rain

I’m just wind

through old trees

~Sharon Ferrante

unwrapping

the New Year

batteries not included

~Alvin B. Cruz

Afternoon of December 24, 2025

 

wonder

how I've been missed

throughout all my years

a thunderbolt

strikes two people

~Tejendra Sherchan

stairs to heaven

I often think of raising

the great wall

~Tejendra Sherchan

Everything

Everyone,

Everything,

Even Death

has a title.

~Partha Sarkar

old photo album

the smiles that got lost

over time


~Mona Bedi

what if this is the end starless night


~Mona Bedi

road ends holding no promise

~Aishwarya Vedula

grass grows past human reasons


~Aishwarya Vedula

Vocabulary

I don’t know the names of trees.

I don’t know the names of flowers.

 

I am an indoor poet!

 

I count my books,

every page without a name.

~Noah Berlatsky

What Is Special?

You wanted to be special

Win all the awards

Have people praise you

To kowtow, grovel, defer

What is special anyway

Whose definition counts

What makes someone

better or more important

When everyone is dust

what is special about that

~Susan Pollet

Run Off

The paint would not soak in

as if by running off it remained

impermanent unfixed unmoored

as it washed away, seeking freedom

from constraints and others’ rules

Judgments held no sway because

it was more about them than what

they were looking at, always is,

and no amount of paint can cover

that up or fix what is unspoken

~Susan Pollet

against all odds

I remain myself

~Alper Ghuchlu

winter solstice -

still a bit of light

driving west


~Maria Cristina Pulvirenti

burning log -

deep winter

outside


~Maria Cristina Pulvirenti

through the closed window

the world walks by

all fa la la la la …

~Jennifer Gurney