Afternoon of January 22, 2023

 

  briefcase face

transgressed into

anonymous holidays

~Keith Higginbotham

stamped on the helipad daisies

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

gazing at the blue sky   a floater has come out to play

~Patrick Sweeney

Hollywood Forever   dead actors gaining on the palms

~Patrick Sweeney

courier’s last scroll goes to someone else

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

boiling tea

needles of ice

in my throat

~Françoise Maurice

spider in shower corner

watch web shudder

no prey smaller than I

~Julie A. Dickson

annoying people

seem to stick around longer

rice in the sink drain

~Sharon Ferrante

gasping

for breath

winking

in and out

of existence

~Mark Gilbert

Such an indulgence

Coffee in the afternoon

Or just recklessness

~Jennifer Gurney

Word Play Ground

Part II

See saw in the window

of glass houses

shouldn't throw

stone age

of aquarius

~Keith Snow

The saying is true

You find what you're looking for

Heart clumps in litter

~Jennifer Gurney

 

 

a box set

and a box

of Belgian chocolates

at the end

we don't find out

what happened

~Mark Gilbert

Afternoon of January 18, 2023

Unforgettable

That look in your eye when you

Ate the last cookie

~Jennifer Gurney

the weight

of existential theory

my fractured toe

~Keith Evetts

Trying for bipartisanship,

The dog meowed;

The cat barked disapproval.

~Steve Gerson

In My Mind

The knots unwind

As the secrets emerge

From the family vault.

~F. Kate Langan

where to go how pigeons know

~Keith Evetts

doing time shadow of the convict

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

spattered with crankcase oil the lilacs

~Richard Magahiz

repetitive lies of love paper hearts

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

What’s for Lunch

My heart huddles on a roadside diner stool.

Fried chicken drips missed chances on her lap.

A milkshake paints her mouth with froth and grief.

Chocolate pudding leaks from rips she patched with promises.

Above her vultures circle, eyeing her as roadkill,

a runaway run over by a freight truck called life.

~Nolcha Fox

life...

my decision not to read

the manual

~Keith Evetts

Afternoon of January 14, 2023

 

standing stones

particles of dead stars

fill the earth

~John Hawkhead

dusting in the grand scheme of things

~Patrick Sweeney

empty nest

decluttering

clutter

~Rupa Anand

New Year’s Day

the pink flamingos

flap their wings

~Francoise Maurice

crow’s feet 

  the ink scratches

    over the page

~John Hawkhead

a bug 

trying to whisper

in my ear 

~Sreenath

voice blinding newscasts

ear spit my epiglottis

until I swallow noise

~Steven M. Gerson

satsuma vase

full of hot air

balloons

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

The car’s cry pinged “unfriend me”

on the handheld while the influencer

drove social media blind

~Steven M. Gerson

wishing she could afford her own transfiguration

~Patrick Sweeney

no baggage relief

year of 2023

carry-on only

~H. Novick

under the pilsner paper roller coaster

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

six-pack on the hardback Kerouac

~Patrick Sweeney

Afternoon of January 11, 2023

imaginary friend we visit the invisible zoo

~Sherry Grant

a hundred billion galaxies   this is going on your permanent record

~Patrick Sweeney

her destiny

the length

of her new year’s noodles

~Wai Mei Wong

just looking

at his pink eye

mine itches

~Randy Brooks

abandoned house

a shadow leans

on the piano

~Arvinder Kaur

I love opera

Even the high screechy parts

Those especially

~Jennifer Gurney

When the marching bands halted

And the speeches began

We found out who was in danger.

~Doug Forrest

voices in my head fighting off ads

~Sherry Grant

the only place you walked

you wanted me to be

the monster,

don't pretend to be afraid

of the darkness;

it's the only place you've ever

walked.

~linda m. crate

ticking clock

images framed in the window

run backwards

~Kavita Ratna

God Shrugs


They think I know what they don’t know

But I only know what they think

I shrug the rest off

~Pam Makin

No-name papers

Why even bother to do

The work and turn it in

~Jennifer Gurney

waiting for word

on poems I sent:

awaiting return of summer

too

~Wayne F. Burke

 

Blank Page Syndrome

words undulating

hazed as gnawing worms

on a writhing page

~Steven M. Gerson

subtext—

what matters the most

in a conversation

~Mona Bedi

lit fest

gossip of a plagiarist

getting the award

~Daipayan Nair

Che Guevara

too big

for my bookshelf

~Daipayan Nair

octopus curls

how do you do that

with your hair

~Mark Gilbert