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