Afternoon of May 31, 2025

 

Blueprint

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

noises in the loft

something coming loose

in my peace of mind

~John Hawkhead

reading palms

each line leads

nowhere

~John Hawkhead

shaking petals

a breeze gentle enough

to share my pain


~Fatma Zohra Habis

quantum physics exam

all my answers

keep changing

~John J. Dunphy

Big Bang Theory

O'Neddy

Bouzingo

~dan smith

caw caw boogie-

it's murder out here

for Bird fanciers

~dan smith

In Sun They All Pass

~Michael Lee Johnson

government drones

the conspiracy theories

of birds

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

executive order ~

the propagation of unblinking eyes

and dorsolateral prefrontal lesions

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

To-Do List

Less and less

and eventually

maybe

nothing at all.

~Scott F. Parker

 

 

Afternoon of May 27, 2025

 

sundown a verb leaps into

the dark

~Vijay Prasad

humbling the climbers Mt. Everest

~Tejendra Sherchan

no more lies, I promise

cross fingers –

all lies, are lies no more

~Allen David Simon

Want to reach your destination?

Are you confused by thinking

of reaching your destination

With straight simple nectar?

Then why don't you follow a snake?

~Partha Sarkar

caregiver burnout

have you taken your pills

have you taken your pills

here are your pills

take them

now

~Belinda Behne

AI bracketology

one click away

from winning

~Douglas J. Lanzo

preening politicians

water-proofing goslings

with outsized necks

~Douglas J. Lanzo

elves, trolls and goblins

shearwater cries

through craggy sea cliffs

~Douglas J. Lanzo

peace talks

i fold my opinion

into origami cranes

~Mona Bedi

Alzheimer’s missing the mum she was

~Mona Bedi

Clouds drift over

an abandoned house

unaware it's lost

~Laila Brahmbhatt

Summer snowstorm

dandelion wishes

granted

~Laila Brahmbhatt

Cluster of white smoke

from the chimney,

old family album

~Laila Brahmbhatt

false shamrock

my tribute poems

get rejected

~Jackie Chou

leaning toward blue

no matter what

the shakuhachi

~Jackie Chou

museum of uranus opens this friday

don’t forget your winter coats

please

~Alper Ghuchlu

 

Afternoon of May 26, 2025

 

Warmest Regards

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

the

space

razorfish

take

up

in

the

oceans

of

the

world

~Patrick Sweeney

Rhythmic Games but Never Ever Lyrics or Ice Breakers

I spied with my lily-livered eye.

Two truffles and a goose-faced lie.

I am shouting truth, daring you to deny...

Blocked by Jill who's so thick-thighed,

rumbling downhill, she cried and cried.

~Keith Snow

missing the acoustic signatures of the teeming rain

on the metal trash can lids

of yore


~Patrick Sweeney

scattered cherry petals

driving the mathematician

to some basic vector calculus


~Patrick Sweeney

a reexamination

of the little piggy

that had roast beef


~Patrick Sweeney

POTSies Need Love, Too

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fraidy pajamas who caught the coal mine.

~Nicholas De Marino

she wants to curl up in Van Gogh's freshly painted bed

~Patrick Sweeney

This will pass someday.

Unless it doesn't.

~Noah Berlatsky

She says “fireworks” and “flowers” the same way.

~Nicholas De Marino

planet of the he-buffaloes in fury

~Tejendra Sherchan

another subplot put into the script without my approval
 

~Patrick Sweeney

he wants to be one

of the Forty-Seven Ronin

I want to be a butterfly

~Patrick Sweeney

pissing contest

lobsters

and politicians


~Kimberly Kuchar

fish feelings

watching you

flip-flop flip-flop


~Kimberly Kuchar

Rock Creek

swimming with grandkids

and ecoli


~Kimberly Kuchar

Somebody’s Gospel

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

 

 

 

 

 

office window

the naked interior

of his mind

~Robert Witmer

summit meeting

the overwhelming presence

of nothingness

~Robert Witmer

catching up

on gossip

plastic bags in the wind

~Robert Witmer

figures

in a fountain

my bankbook's naked truth

~Robert Witmer

poetry in motion

smoke through a chimney

the poet's fireplace

~Robert Witmer

 

 

Afternoon of May 22, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Don’t Have a God Complex, I Have a Poorly Managed Kingdom

i pray

but only in public bathrooms.

i bless people

by mistake.

say “you’re welcome”

when they haven’t thanked me.

i want worship

but settle for attention.

my altar is a group chat

named sinners club <3

~Sophia Sharkey

childhood friend

her peaceful memory

in my thoughts

an old poem collection

from when I was suffocating

amie d’enfance

son souvenir paisible

dans mes pensées

un vieux recueil de poèmes

du temps où j’étouffais

~Marie Derley

my favorite poems about work, are written there. It's like earning a secret bonus.

~Keith Snow

One day I will not write a poem

But not today.

~Noah Berlatsky

floating anchorless a disseminated            i

~Vijay Prasad

monkeys in a cage do not call their home a prison

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

the evolution of leaves underfoot

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

I’m the Kind of Girl Who Could Die Mysteriously in Act Two

i say cryptic things

at bus stops.

i journal in code

then forget the key.

i drink wine like it’s plot development

and kiss like a spoiler.

you’d miss me

and not know why—

only that your dreams

smell like petrol and wet paper.

~Sophia Sharkey

waiting for the school bus

sounds of my classmates' phones

playing music too loud

~Alper Ghuchlu

the meteorologists

predict more rainfall

this monsoon

~Tejendra Sherchan

I Only Believe in Horoscopes When They Insult Me

“you push people away.”

accurate.

“you love too hard.”

cringe but true.

“you will meet someone soon.”

liar.

“stop looking at your ex’s instagram.”

block me harder, cosmos.

drag me by the rising sign.

make it personal.

~Sophia Sharkey

rain puddle . . .

I ripple my distorted

image

~Veronika Zora Novak

white eyes . . .

in a nuclear field

apocalypse child

~Veronika Zora Novak

in some

other universe . . .

lilac moons

~Veronika Zora Novak

as I swim

inside your head . . .

marmalade clouds

~Veronika Zora Novak

Summer rain sleepwalking

In a new trench coat

Posing for flowers

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

Evening shadows

Growing in blue ovals

Memory lane

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

such a small word

such a powerful impact

oval

~Jennifer Gurney

And the globe is eternal

Taw.

Taw.

Taw.

Tawdry tattoo.

Tawdry fireworks

And tatty tattoos.

Then who dreams bright?

Toddles a toddler in toddler- only hope.

~Partha Sarkar

wild mushrooms—

sorting through

evening news

~Richard L. Matta

glass globe

the expansion

of his smudges

~Richard L. Matta

I’m a "Strong Independent Woman" Until I See a Moth Indoors

i pay taxes.

i’ve seen death.

i’ve called the GP without crying.

but the second

a moth does its freaky wing twitch

by the hallway bulb—

i become

a victorian widow

screaming into a tea towel

like the room’s on fire.

~Sophia Sharkey

I Am the Reason They Lock the Self-Checkout Alcohol Drawer

i failed the captcha

because i looked too sad.

the machine said

“unexpected item in the bagging area”

and i said

“yeah, that’s me.”

the cashier asked

“plastic or paper?”

i said

“attachment or abandonment?”

~Sophia Sharkey

 

 

 

https://www.yavanikapress.com/submission-

guidelines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning of May 21, 2025

 

accounting for one dead raccoon on the newly paved road

~Patrick Sweeney

people who can afford nothingness

~Patrick Sweeney

he ate the hard crust of pizza with Franciscan rapture

~Patrick Sweeney

crescent (city) roll

~Jerome Berglund

taught not to believe the bully could win

~Patrick Sweeney

Ten Ways to Say Nothing Back

I’m fine. It’s okay.

I shouldn’t have said anything.

No worries. It’s all good.

I’m just tired.

I shouldn’t have made him mad.

I think I’m too sensitive—I probably overreacted.

He didn’t mean it like that.

The dog was old anyway.

He is under a lot of stress.

I love him.

~Kristina Warlen

white smoke…

a baby seagull at the papal logia

before the cardinals

~Maya Daneva

broken chair

outside a politician's mansion

his toppled government

~Tejendra Sherchan

fall fashion

they bleed out

so fast

~Jerome Berglund

he's always taking notes:

no time-outs

in the Bardo

~Patrick Sweeney

in vest

the pockets are purely

for show

~Jerome Berglund

Gas Station Bathroom


It was positive in the gas station bathroom.

I didn’t cry.

I bought a Diet Coke,

drove home,

and said nothing for three days.

~Kristina Warlen

in the wind

the wings

of a manor

~Jerome Berglund

if only

the memory stick could

stop me forgetting

~Melissa Dennison

Care Package

I mailed you socks, letters, snacks, a photo I hated.

You never got it.

Nothing ever came back.

But I kept the receipt.

Like it could prove I tried.

~Kristina Warlen