that good stretch —
outside your comfort zone
but
not too far
~Jennifer Gurney
sifting through cast offs—
I find treasures
from your discards
~Jennifer Gurney
Sardonic quips;
Laughter is Sirius
At the full eclipse.
~David Mitchell
Wounds
when commanded to stop the tirade
told he is a monster
he lies down to nap
curled
up like a small child
~MarthaEllenJohnson
Non-viable
Non-viable. She bled out in the parking lot.
“Women always get the short end of the stick.”
~MarthaEllenJohnson
Poseur
Poseur. He lectures.
Points to a painting.
“The claustrophobia of life.”
He glances at me.
Knows I know.
Hates me more.
~MarthaEllenJohnson
Nobody will come
Nobody's coming back
Nobody will rise again
There's not enough air for anyone
No one has enough love
~Mykyta Ryzhyk
(Originally published in Ice Floe Press)
this poem
will not be written
by anyone because the author
will go to the supermarket for vodka
and never come back
~Mykyta Ryzhykh
(Originally published in Tipton Poetry Journal)
mom
sews a vagina for her daughter like a red rag for tears
mom wants soldiers to give flowers to her daughters
the cemetery is silent about flowers
daughter collects khaki and throws it into the toilet
daughter screams that she does not need such flowers
graves
are silent about the dead
~Mykyta Ryzhykh
(Originally published in Rat's Ass Review)
An old woman views
a woodblock printing and sighs
to think of the past.
~Keech Ballard
childhood
memory —
filling
in the blanks
left by snowflakes
~Ana
Drobot
fingers in machine / lack of care will lead to bad / damaged rings
~Charles A. Perrone
Guard
Dog with a Mind of Winter
The boy rolls snow
into the shape of the puppy
he lost.
~Cheryl Snell
Arty
Party
The butler took our coats.
Then he
took our clothes.
I kept my stilettos on.
~Cheryl Snell
You
Asked for It
Elvis
replicates himself
while performing Hound Dog,
outnumbering
the audience
baying at the moon’s hologram.
~Cheryl
Snell