Afternoon of December 18, 2023

Can insomnia

keep up with jet lag?

~Noah Berlatsky

My compost pile

is full of tiny staples

strings and teabag tags.

~Terry Trowbridge

Smash into powder

the coffee beans

exposed to open air

overnight hardens.

~Fhen M.

i  se n r yu  k

u k i ah

~Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

The Cleveland School of Advanced Outlaw Poetics

screw 'em

if they can't

take a joke

~dan smith

our multi-faith home

the candles for

Hanukkah, Christmas and solstice

all set ablaze from

the same box of matches

~John J. Dunphy

why me–

next door neighbors

hang flashing lights

~Jennifer Gurney

veteran's nativity set

one of the wise men

missing a leg

~John J. Dunphy

transporting a team

of Alaskan reindeer

to the Philly Zoo

Rudolph with his nose so bright

upgraded to first class

~Bonnie J Scherer

Christmas Eve live nativity

the smallest angel

keeps yawning

~John J. Dunphy

modern

gifts of the Magi–

delivery from Amazon

~Jennifer Gurney

outdoor Christmas carolers

Silent Night followed by

a coyote howl

~John J. Dunphy

spring tulips

winter cacti

autumn roses

summer rains

everything around is waiting

for the end of the world

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

(Originally published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal)

ants warm their belly under

the sun like a giant

organs crawl out from

their own disgrace

eve of the last war

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

(Originally published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal)

smoke cloud

the teddy loses

its only eye

~Arvinder Kaur

war destruction

in my hometown

cicadas cry

~Arvinder Kaur