Evening of August 29, 2023

 

two snails

if they race each other

it doesn’t show

~Daniel Birnbaum

the cockroach

what we think of each other

perhaps the same

~Daniel Birnbaum

the tangerine

perhaps the last to call me

from childhood

~Daniel Birnbaum

raindrops are spitting

on the book where I’m writing

this now-wet haiku

~Jennifer Gurney

a door that never opens

sealed forever

by a family of spiders

~Steve Van Allen

early morning quake

deep sea 7.4—

the cradle does rock

~James Penha

I write this poem

composed by my shower mind

wrapped in a towel

~Jennifer Gurney

Barbie movie

sex bomb goes off

only egos injured

~Adele Evershed

second summer

finding mildew

in all my cracks

~Adele Evershed

scathing review

I pretend my poetry

was written by AI

~Adele Evershed

counting on the spiritual procrastination of the good thief

~Patrick Sweeney

stillness even when there are no deer on the trail

~Patrick Sweeney

who I was when I first tasted a ginger snap

~Patrick Sweeney

the pain of passing petoskey stones

~Adele Evershed

resting my elbow again on the tiger's back

~Patrick Sweeney

she told me I should be searching for shovel-tusked mastodons instead of snow fleas

~Patrick Sweeney

Morning of August 29, 2023

dead end saloon

four hungry ghosts

and a rat

~Sarah Paris

the dust on my writing desk Ambien fog

~Sarah Paris

light is the bow that

bounces on the singular

spider thread stretched thin

~Jennifer Gurney

you are the questions

that float into my mind when

I least expect them

~Jennifer Gurney

perseids all night

one after another

damn kidney stones

~Rex Lisman

banana moon comparing himself to a toucan

~Joshua St. Claire

State of New Jersey tax notice

two accountants discuss the meaning

of “Kafkaesque”

~Joshua St. Claire

11-dimensional spacetime

a grey squirrel navigates

power lines

~Joshua St. Claire

Möbius strip

oh, how careful you are

to consider my side

~Joshua St. Claire

we make of the moon what we make of the moon

~Joshua St. Claire

picket line

strikers use their signs for

rain shields

~John J. Dunphy

first day

on his new job

ex-Walmart greeter

says hello to

his union sisters and brothers

~John J. Dunphy

falling

through the sky of

her blue eyes

~Aaron Bowker

asleep under a

constellation of freckles

the smallest star

~Aaron Bowker

Afternoon of August 26, 2023

I find a treasure

in the pocket of the coat

you left behind

~Jennifer Gurney

my imaginary friend AI

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

heat is a blanket

follows me to bed

I keep throwing it off

~Steve Van Allen

daybreak

a new beginning

for the fruit fly

~Jennifer Gurney

coding

from beyond the grave

FORTRAN

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

midnight storm

bowling in the dark clouds

~Steve Van Allen

separated at birth identical scarecrows

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

death

dust bunnies

in her slippers

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

documentary

about 9/11

so many stairs......

Jennifer Gurney

Afternoon of August 25, 2023

summer’s end

my rat girl

playing possum

~Jean-Paul Moyer

Calgary morning

a Russian Blue examines

my toes

~Rupa Anand

saving me

from cold war demons

school desk

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

after the tornado

the hoe my neighbor borrowed

back in my yard

~John J. Dunphy

meditation —

a thousand petals

cross her soul

~Katherine E Winnick

all our secrets out there data breach

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

farewell dinner

end of his cheatwave

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Bible-thumper in the park

indifferent ducks

doomed to an eternity in hell

~John Grey

best of show Darwinian schnauzers

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

REGARDING MY NEED FOR SOLITUDE

 

Please don’t be offended

when I say,

“I wish

to be left alone.”

 

It just means

I want you around

so I can tell you this.

~John Grey

shooting stars...

the scent of nightshade

in your hair

~Katherine E Winnick

Afternoon of August 24, 2023

 

 crushed

between pages of her life

rose petals

~Stephanie Zepherelli

 bones

        rattling

   the hum

            of her

lawnmower

    mind

~Kelly Moyer

vanishing act

amateur magician

makes his audience disappear

one by one

through the exit

~John J. Dunphy

the coast is clear

. . . . erosion

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

I ignore

the old woman

in my mirror

~Linda L Ludwig

from a rooftop

she shouts

at her drowning

blue heart

yellow whispers

I got it

~Sharon Ferrante

inheriting the meek

a market

for plant-based ukuleles

~Kelly Moyer

giving blood the flea bites

~Sharon Ferrante

vineyard

tasting the stain

on his fingers

~Sharon Ferrante

accenting our love linguistic convergence

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

checking out

two books at a time

from the prison library

the convict serving

concurrent sentences

~John J. Dunphy

plastic from paper

sorting out

the great mystery

~Kelly Moyer

Morning of August 21, 2023

 

I am here, she said

to no one in particular

sometimes that's enough

~Jennifer Gurney

 

 

not getting the memo four o’clock shadow

~Susan Burch

if children grew on trees

~Mona Bedi

fold after fold origami ecosystem

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

monogamy the chance I took yesteryear moon

~Mona Bedi

3 bean moon I am Jack’s broken heart

~Susan Burch

Darkness. Silence.

A heavy falling snow

Blood dripping.

~Daniel de Culla

Microfesto

New world

me

at center.

~Chad Parenteau

When the pandemic is over

I’ll stop thinking and begin reading

I’ll buy things and stop surfing.

I’ll stop counting but start adding,

I won’t need to ask but will be telling.

When the pandemic is over, I’ll leave home and find one.

~Akhila

emptying the house

a closet with all the checks

he’s ever written

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

Post-Argument

You tell

empty house

you’re listening

and the house

believes you.

~Chad Parenteau

each one

with his own god

temple town

~Mona Bedi

for no good reason

the watch I found on the beach

last year    starts to run

~Kathy Watts

only they know my wanderlust fridge magnets

~Mona Bedi

Evening of August 18, 2023

beer garden

I plant myself

at the bar

~Paul David Mena

the hiss of light years between us

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

trapped in your ribcage I rattle the bars

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

picking up the fly swatter

I compose

another death poem

~Paul David Mena

He promised her

Moonlit beach strolls.

He promised her

caviar and champagne.

He promised her

he’d steal her heart.

He stole her wallet

instead.

~Nolcha Fox

Woodstock anniversary

woman listens to

the concert LP

in her room at

the nursing home

~John J. Dunphy

Less

 

I took the one less

I took the one

I took the

I took

~Noah Berlatsky

Sing Gone

You’re the rooster

cackling off-key

through a megaphone.

You won’t hear me singing

when I pack my bags

and leave.

~Nolcha Fox

have

you

seen her

the poster

asks from a phone pole

photograph of an empty room

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

rising inflation—

the increased cost

of lottery tickets

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

burning sage

my dreams

go up in smoke

~Paul David Mena

Just launched (and sold at amazon):

 

Kelly Moyer’s latest book, Hushpuppy (Nun Prophet Press)