Afternoon of May 17, 2023

 

local shaman

those rusty nails and needles

suddenly

~A.J. Anwar

Swallowtail butterfly

Halloween colors

can you last until October?

~Steve Van Allen

borders of

my country etched

blood red

~Kavita Ratna

Anxiety

 

a thought, like liver --

   nose, offended; taste buds, assaulted.

a rhythm, but the dancers are off-beat.

a rash, stuck in the itch-scratch cycle.

 

it makes my hair stand on end

   like little, naked trolls from the ‘60s.

it’s what I feel when I can no longer breathe

   behind my mask of extroversion.

~Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

roadkill vultures at my funeral

~Kelly Moyer

pelvic exam the curtain rises on a cabaret

~Kelly Moyer

nostalgia tuning the beauty shop violins

~Kelly Moyer

coffee mug

I smell

my residue

~Daipayan Nair

regret

I wish I had

an edit

~A.J. Anwar

dark nebula

what the asshole poet

knows of love

~Kelly Moyer