Afternoon of January 7, 2026

 

quantum blackjack

quantum blackjack

my cards add up to 21

for a moment

~John J. Dunphy




bankruptcy

my mail box filled with

credit card offers

~John J. Dunphy




tattoo of a fairy

its nose red

from a mosquito bite

~John J. Dunphy




hospice vigil

dying man asks

a relative to pray

in a lower voice

~John J. Dunphy



rushing to shine

before city lights are on

the full moon

~Tejendra Sherchan




independent cinema

brought to you

by the deep state

it's ostensibly

criticizing

~Jerome Berglund




Middle age is when

half the funerals

are for someone younger.


~Jeffrey Taylor




I Reside in Metaphor


Like god

Like family

Like anything

More abstract

Than the present

Moment

~Scott Parker




On Being a Poet


I didn't write this line,

but I did have the chance

to read it first.

~Scott Parker




Here we go

Another shift

In the paradigm

~Sarah Mahina Calvello




in season utter nonsense


~Roberta Beach Jacobson




the world as it was

when i was young

city fog

~Gareth Nurden




stained curtain,

Grilled window, Light pollution.

But beyond that

- the cosmos.

~David Mitchell




rhythm

from his brown eyes...

the violinist

~Fatma Zohra Habis




on the eighth day

he created the wind

and it blew me away

~Bonnie J Scherer




out for the count five fleas

~Barrie Levine




2026

an accident

that didn’t wait to happen


~Barrie Levine

 


 









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

 

Afternoon of January 2, 2026

 

Open for submissions again: Horror Senryu Journal

https://horrorkujournal.blogspot.com/



Send your short poems: Password

https://veryshortpoetry.com/submissions/




you tell me

your poems have

no titles”

i nod my head

and say,

neither does

my life.”


~Tom Blessing




lunar city

green domes

in a barren plain


~David C. Kopaska-Merkel




even when dreaming

he had no butterfly-gene expression


~Patrick Sweeney




Two Ton Tony Galento

always got to say his name twice


~Patrick Sweeney




The best things in life are free, but so are the worst.



~Gloria Parker




taking down

the old church sign

end times


~Ingrid Bruck




moon skeleton

in morning sky

night’s echo


~Jennifer Gurney




Such a bleeding heart

She’s gonna need

a transfusion


~Sarah Mahina Calvello




my life

dry as the urban

landscape

I follow a maple leaf

calling it poetry


~Jackie Chou




daydreams

and fairytales --the voices

in my head


~M. R. Pelletier




punchbowl drunk

a thirsty mouse

finds the holiday ladle


~Douglas J. Lanzo




unpaid overtime

the plink clink of ice pellets

on the window


~Joshua St. Claire




fifth interview

the HR VP asks me

who Joshua St. Claire is


~Joshua St. Claire




she says the dog

is fixed now

third quarter moon


~Joshua St. Claire




Ode to Art Cinema 12-31-25


gonna start the new year right

with Harry Smith reel tight

lightshow videos of the Fugs

down on the Bowery with some poetry thugs

Harry's string theory weaving some songs

living lives where we don't quite belong

seeking nirvana with a shotgun swagger



                      his circles & squares still stagger



~dan smith




my thumb counts four


~Allen David Simon




setting the record straight no one



~Roberta Beach Jacobson




how can

one day change so much

new year


~Jennifer Gurney




whole to-do list

for the coming year

1. to live



~Oscar Luparia




breaking my resolution

to never publish again


~Douglas J. Lanzo




we always

think we have more time

until we don’t


~Jennifer Gurney



Open now (only until filled): Akitsu Quarterly

http://www.wildgraces.com/akitsu-quarterly



Submit by January 11: Golden Haiku Competition

https://goldentriangledc.com/event/golden-haiku/

Afternoon of December 28, 2025

 


Christmas morning

my cat gifts me

a hairball


~John J. Dunphy




Christmas swim -

the indifferent sea

swallows two men

~Penny Lowery




I watch the fruitcake

gifted to us

by our neighbor

being devoured by

a squirrel

~John J. Dunphy




We ordered Christmas dinner

and then forgot the restaurant closed at 12.

There will be no Christmas dinner.

We may have to eat the elves.

~Noah Berlatsky




Christmas Eve

no room at

the homeless shelter


~John J. Dunphy




burning log -


deep winter

outside


~Maria Cristina Pulvirenti




Get sick

Get well

It’s hard to tell

~Sarah Mahina Calvello




The edge


Of disarrayed change


Screeching window crows

~Sarah Mahina Calvello




re dact

un re dact

re re dact

dact

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




in the beehive democracy

~Tejendra Sherchan




snowflakes changing my point of view


~Cezar Ciobîcă




war dove

~Mykyta Ryzhykh




you too can be a conjunction


~Tiffany Rindler




the dusk you dream of becoming

~Tiffany Rindler




i was

the river

and so

were you

~Tiffany Rindler




just now

watching the sun

become a black hole

~Sharon Ferrante




when I mix red and green

      and yellow and blue

I get only brown


~Mark Gilbert




forgetting/

her/

number/


forgetting/

mine/

~Mark Gilbert




pushing this cage on wheels

from room to room,

never complaining,

and yet she’s a Capricorn,

like me

~Mark Gilbert




Roswell, New Mexico

its first tourist from

another planet

~John J. Dunphy




writer's block


the chatbot encourages me


to change my muse

~Cezar Ciobîcă




winter evening


the stone angel asks


for a hug


~Cezar Ciobîcă




happy new year

don’t disillusion me…

sounding like rain

I’m just wind

through old trees

~Sharon Ferrante




unwrapping

the New Year

batteries not included

~Alvin B. Cruz