Afternoon of November 28, 2022

Popcorn

I told her what a relief it was

that I finally extracted that shard of popcorn

that was stuck between my gum and tooth

for three days

 

and she asked me,

what’s someone your age doing

eating popcorn?

I’d hate to see her reaction

if I still drank beer and smoked cigars.

~John Tustin

stuffed with blood

the flea takes a catnap

~Mona Iordan

the old attic

bunnies of dust going at me

from every corner

~Mona Iordan

circling the drain   red fish, blue fish, silverfish
 

~Reid Hepworth 

my fault your fault St Andreas tremor

~Wanda Amos

taproot of the low-lying spurge

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

 

clouds my isolation

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

the world as usual cemetery silence

~Arvinder Kaur

I didn’t order the cat in the box,

But it is too late to send her back.

~Beth Gulley

Cognitive Decline

I try to keep up with the news,

read poetry

and write poems almost every night;

plus, I’ve tried to get back into novels

and I do crossword puzzles, find-a-words,

play solitaire, attempt to memorize land markers,

brush up on obscure history

but I don’t think it’s working –

my brain still atrophies.

~John Tustin

a kiss of hymn

prayers we regurgitate

from tales by moonlight

casting magic spells

on charms

~Christina Chin / Uchechukwu Onyedikam

she wants to be a galaxy when she grows up
 

~ Patrick Sweeney 

 

 

covered with leaves expert in a dying field
 

~petro c.k.

 

 

meeting the Wallenda who wouldn't risk it

~Patrick Sweeney

drunk farmers

in the pub's door

scarecrow

~Mircea Moldovan