Afternoon of January 3, 2025

it's not the New Year until someone starts talking about the end of the world

~Patrick Sweeney




Clue Map


maiden voyage of a monarch chrysalis


flagship's horn echoing

across the bay


maiden voyage of a monarch chrysalis


                                    childhood dreams

                                    coming alive


maiden voyage of a monarch chrysalis


                                                                    one more sign

                                                                    to rebuild my faith

~Roman Lyakhovetsky




tranquil clouds passing

in my heart

a doubt

~Noah Berlatsky




just me and the wind

the constant chime

of nevermore

~Joanna Ashwell




dirty snow

& the complications

of Spider Solitaire

~Patrick Sweeney




discard old skin

emerge from chrysalis

perpetual change

~Olinda Ninolakis




village fair

a doll's dress

catches briar

~Debarati Sen




in my own analog universe

straight through

Abbey Road

~Patrick Sweeney




in the city

a deserted house

gripping nostalgia

~Tejendra Sherchan




bro.ken, vi.vid dreams

 

transparent glue

belongs to you

 

seamless repair

mine to declare

~Suzanne S. Austin-Hill




fairy tale

I eat the wolf

that ate grandma

~M. R. Pelletier




housekeeping carts

long-term tenants air out

at the curb

~M. R. Pelletier




headphones

I help a loudmouth mind

his own business

~M. R. Pelletier




civilization

a well paved road

to self-destruction

~M. R. Pelletier




this mish-mash life I like to call eclectic

~dan smith




if he stubs his toe today, he'll be checking for gangrene in the morning

~Patrick Sweeney

 


 

will there be a body politic when our brains/minds get uploaded

~dan smith

Morning of January 2, 2025


inner octopus

just inked

me out

~Lys Browne




New Year's Day

I wake up facing

my TV

~John J. Dunphy




evening walk

letting go

of the prognosis

~Padma Rajeswari Tata




A hospital like nightqueen


Gets injured milky air by busy drilling.

No green janitor at the playground.

Pants Room No. 3 of the lungs.

Yet is fearless the lamb.


Yonder a hospital like nightqueen

With a nominal green ticket.

~Partha Sarkar




between yes and no she smiles creases

~Vijay Prasad




cloud peaks imposter syndrome

~Joshua St. Claire




strangling the willow tree devil's hair

~Tejendra Sherchan




magnetic monopoles

Wood’s cycad

in cone again

~Joshua St. Claire



winter night garden

where plants and dreams

hibernate

~Jennifer Gurney




prevailing winds

an editor and I exchange

form letters

~Joshua St. Claire




Thank You



A meaningless

 

after-mumble,

 

word chunks


crumble like


feta pieces


falling out


of your mouth.

~Keith Snow




winter night

all my dreams

frozen in place

~Jennifer Gurney




amazing

how a life can change

one email

~Jennifer Gurney




ANOTHER YEAR


Another year of hesitant steps

taken down winding paths to

hazy landscapes, shadowy vistas

colored in grays and darkened mists,

brushed by breezes of indecision,

forced broken strides forward

into an uncertain future.

~Ruth Van Alstine




December 31

suddenly my lap cat's purring

spans two years

~John J. Dunphy




half moon

the cat catching the mouse

I poisoned

~Joshua St. Claire




my cat

heavy on my feet

grounding me

~Jennifer Gurney