Morning of May 20, 2024

 

high-rise balcony—

a potted plant leans

towards the edge of escape

~Nalini Shetty

The Alternate Universe Routine

William S. Burroughs

does stand-up

Lenny Bruce

writes novels

WSB doesn't kill his wife

Lenny never gets arrested

~dan smith

Revenge of madness

Little gophers of construction in the palm of hopes


Guns screamed

The end of all roads

We swam out to drown

The only prospect is waiting

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

(Originally published in Tipton poetry Journal )

One or two glowworms

The squinted looks

Throughout the day.

Where should I flee?

Comes the evening.

I hide behind the undergrowth.

There are one or two extinct glowworms.

I get shelter and save my identity.

~Partha Sarkar

counting flower petals thinking about Ophelia trying to stay sane

~Joana Figueiredo

crushing my eyelids together my refusal to cry

~Joana Figueiredo

mad woman

casting ashes to the wind

grieving myself

~Joana Figueiredo

You don't come home

You don't come to the neighbors

You don't come to me

You don't come to your senses

You can't take out the trash

You don't clean your ears

Looks like I died

Inside your head

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

(Originally published in Tipton poetry Journal )

dead black beetle

inside Angel’s Trumpet--

a blissful death

~Tejendra Sherchan

dragging my legs home

all my flickering lights

about to go out

~Joana Figueiredo

all the way to Mars

Fido dreamed of the wind

on his face

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

one more asteroid

nudged across Earth's orbit

dirty pool

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

So Here We Are

under the bright moon

tearing apart this sheep

our partners

and bare-skinned children

toss in their beds

dream of monsters

with human faces

and long sharp teeth

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

The Ghost of Phil Ochs Floats Over Lincoln Park Like Tear Gas

four days in August 2024

fifty-six years on

~dan smith

At last dies every day the innocent

At last died the innocent.

It had been suffering for a long time

Perhaps from helplessness

Or one of its souls might be broken by Time.

However I put it on the grass by the dustbin

And despite being sad, I wait for another tonight

With my companion - the sad note of saxophone.

~Partha Sarka

empty nest

in a bead tree—

egg moon above

~Tejendra Sherchan

milk moon

her tender gaze I drink

almond beverages now

~Madeleine Kavanagh

wi-fi signals

connecting everyone

yet not connecting

~Nalini Shetty

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 )

crowded subway—

our eyes meet and then retreat

alone together

~Nalini Shetty

A bird doesn't know it's a bird.

A stone doesn't know it's a stone.

Like them, I know who I am.

~Noah Berlatsky

watercress

every time I open the fridge

there you are

~Madeleine Kavanagh