Afternoon of December 21, 2025

 

k1nd32 m0053

~Nicholas De Marino

a dollar for

Pavlov's

Salivation Army

~Richard Magahiz

Nietzsche's mustache

advising me

off the record

~Richard Magahiz

night shift ...

beavers sharpening

pencils

~Elliot Diamond

a square pillow pegged to round dream

~Elliot Diamond

naked light

in bed all day

with no remorse

~Ash Evan Lippert

shameless sleep

the days pile up

like unwashed laundry

~Ash Evan Lippert

evening prayer

a mosquito checks

my resolve

~Neena Singh

Das Kaputal

byte the bullet

and take the coin

out of the bit

~dan smith

calories—

the gift that keeps giving

that elastic stretch

~Patricia Carragon

out of order

but plenty of broke

to go around           n


~Nicholas De Marino

Was I flung here

or did I leap?


~Nicholas De Marino

spade and bucket swing

Kafka paces the beach

no building permit


~Nicholas De Marino

“Maybe you should try

getting better at this.”

— my daughter, 11

~Nicholas De Marino

the stink bugs are all moved in

~Patrick Sweeney

it's either I rearrange the furniture

or slit my throat

~Patrick Sweeney

she was trying to tell me

I couldn't count what happens to fictional characters

as part of my destiny

~Patrick Sweeney

lake effect

behind my brother's

lonely eyes

~Patrick Sweeney

practicing a form without ascendant progress,

a thousand-legger's turn for new shoes

~Patrick Sweeney

fleeing in their corporate lab coats

with one

hypothesis

~Patrick Sweeney

 

 

Afternoon of December 17, 2025

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

Rolled

 

 

Christmas list

again she asks

for the moon

~Anne Fox

Survival

year-to-year lease

month-to-month phone

week-to-week groceries

day-to-day life

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

 

high heels the sensation of standing


~Maya Daneva

 

 

broken bagpipe the struggle to breathe

~Maya Daneva

old cello the sounds of a new moon


~John Pappas

moth light the half-life of certainty

~John Pappas

winter break

frozen in a puddle

a math worksheet

~John Pappas

water cooler talk —

on monday morning

the weekend killings

~John Pappas

deep freeze

the chatbot suggests

suicide

~John Pappas

In and out

Lulling of the waves

Tomorrow’s echo

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://sonicboomjournal.wixsite.com/sonicboom/submission-guidelines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berried

 

Afternoon of December 16, 2025

Climate refugees

put climate of hate

behind them.


~Jeffrey Taylor

treading water

our bed the liferaft

we float away on

~John Hawkhead

denominations

saint nick’s only allegiance

to the almighty dollar

~Jerome Berglund

roman umpire

~Jerome Berglund

deciduous

we've all gotten

repulsive

~Jerome Berglund

Where?

Where should we keep faith on the statesmen without fear?

In the coffin.


~Partha Sarkar

holiday parade

canceled

fears of ice


~Kimberly Kuchar

first snow melt

I slowly reveal my

new pronouns

~Colleen M. Farrelly

Dreams in circles

Running around the moon

Curving impulses

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

It’s just time

Spiral within spiral

Thoughts with no end


~Sarah Mahina Calvello

Order Rice and Beans by Jerome Berglund (at cost)

 

 

Evening of December 15, 2025

Five Fleas Swag

https://www.zazzle.com/store/five_fleas

conspiracy theories . . .

spi (c) es

in the corner cabinet


~Barrie Levine

aurora … your ephemeral moods

~Wanda Amos

now was before

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

I am weary

all this

alone time


~Jennifer Gurney

prison poet

his best work composed

in solitary

~John J. Dunphy

little white lies

the pigeon in my story

changed to a dove

~Jackie Chou

lost tooth

rebelieving in fairies

in middle age

~Jackie Chou

flapping away

with my daydream

from above

the shadow of a raven

as black as its croak

~Jackie Chou

onions

the way he slices

my heart


~Mohua Maulik

I'm glad you have stories not to tell,

someone something to protect,

a relationship you can build.

Away from the shadows

full of hope

to find

pure

joy.

~Keith Snow

Horror Story

I am

just sitting here

when the clutter

comes back

~Noah Berlatsky

& if lakes formed when angels cried,

      the world is sure to drown —

for her eyes were pointed towards the sky,

      & yet she still looked down.

~naomi olivia

Now I Get It

When I ask

what does it mean...

this poem in The New Yorker,

he says, It's postmodern

and when I ask what does

postmodern mean, he says that

a poem doesn't have to mean,

it just has to be.

~Gloria Parker

Stirring the rice pot

Calming routine

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

university class

final exam interrupted

by gunshots

~John J. Dunphy

 

keening sirens

and a ten-year stretch

of insomnia

~Patrick Sweeney

no thought for the superficial cephalic

in the placement of his magpie tattoo

~Patrick Sweeney

she wants him to say it in his head

and leave it there

~Patrick Sweeney

sixty-three years later,

silverfish under the white wicker hamper

~Patrick Sweeney

gathering dust

in the corner

her self esteem

~Wanda Amos

night table

a haiku written

in its dust

~John J. Dunphy

a December day

I experience

its abrupt end

 

~Tejendra Sherchan

 

 

Afternoon of December 11, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bump in the road

That’s all it is

Winter’s sparseness

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

downpours of rain

windscreen wipers draw

two parentheses

two of us, alone in the night

between darkness and rain

 

trombes de pluie

les essuie-glace dessinent

deux parenthèses

à deux, seuls dans la nuit

entre ténèbres et pluie

~Marie Derley

 

if only

my thoughts were a mime

~Sharon Ferrante

 

no wind spinning the weather vane just for fun

~Sharon Ferrante

seasonal political allergies

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

the way farmers talk mustard blooms

~Tejendra Sherchan

Mexican jumping beans

first lunar leaps

seeding the exosphere

~Douglas J. Lanzo

feline magic:

nothing is created, nothing is destroyed,

everything is transformed—

the Christmas tree becomes

a Christmas gift

~Oscar Luparia

ash plume

teaching thunder

to meditate

~Sheikha A.

seeking refuge

in dank crevices

— cluster flies 

 

~Sheikha A.

Hearing Aids



They're annoying

but they serve a purpose


You can take them out

when you've heard enough.


~Sheila Parker

chance meeting

in the crosswalk

doppelgängers

~Stephanie Zepherelli

happy meals

forever chemicals

for children

~Stephanie Zepherelli

 

cutting cords

a double helix

left behind

~Stephanie Zepherelli

 

 

Morning of December 9, 2025

 

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

rising to the top

the yeast

of my worries

 

~Robert Witmer

the street lamp flickers

raindrops

alone with a saxophone

~Robert Witmer

rainy season

watching reruns

on the weather channel

~Robert Witmer

Santa’s address with no forwarding way home

~Joanna Ashwell

bonfire ash

the way everything

has to end


~Mona Bedi

old fort the deafening silence of past lives


~Mona Bedi

We’re all

Differently abled stars

Coffee drunk

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

mosh pits

after the concert

night crickets

~Anthony Lusardi

a doomsday fish

washes ashore

third time this year

~Kimberly Kuchar

Kiwi Fruit

It's actually pretty tasty

if you can stop seeing it

as furry little critters

without legs.

~Gloria Parker

wild grass

blooming on the roadside

without a name


~Tejendra Sherchan

A.I. doesn't know what I'm missing

~Patrick Sweeney

family photo...

involuntarily counting

our smiling dead

~Patrick Sweeney