Afternoon of February 3, 2023

calling bell

nobody comes in

one goes away

~Bipasha Majumder

Cyborgs

without brains

smoosh.

~Noah Berlatsky

3 am -

a shriek from the top

of the wardrobe

~Juliet Wilson

hissing

from a straw blade

a praying mantis

gets eaten by one

less pious

~Christina Chin / M. R. Defibaugh

Hives

Who says the monk cilice shirt,

hair of sackcloth, penance ash,

cannot be simply fleas at work,

lashes, stripes, the welts of bites,

or even hives, bee-keeping work?

~Stephen Kingsnorth

air raid

a mum-to-be writhing

in labour pain

~Bipasha Majumder

new rank promises of war

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

picking willow twigs

from the frozen moat

(he’s no jesus)

~David Cox

hototogisu

I still don’t understand you

hototogisu

~Noah Berlatsky

Evening of February 2, 2023

 

lunar apogee: her 'ciao for now' 2.7 Kelvins
~Patrick Sweeney

freedom divided chopping the film into mildew morsels
~Elancharan Gunasekaran

prelinguistic metal stresses in the sun
~Patrick Sweeney

pier pressure the divine flood in knots and shambles
~Elancharan Gunasekaran

making my own fortune cookies with sour milk
~Patrick Sweeney

sugar therapy rewiring the neurodivergent pig
~Elancharan Gunasekaran

shedding boas and pronouns from Adam's rib
~Patrick Sweeney

lightning bodies lighting fireworks for the sad fog of humanity
~Elancharan Gunasekaran 

Morning of February 2, 2023

I’m in the loo

with the last croissant

family arrives

~Sharon Ferrante

solitaire

the old man shuffles

back to the loo

~Robert Witmer

A fly in my soup

Inside a plastic ice cube

Got me every time

~Jennifer Gurney

Package delivered…pic…not my porch

~Julie A. Dickson

two but one alone

~Bob Carlton

miscommunication misunderstanding missing you

~Kerry J Heckman

winter solstice

burning in the fireplace

Christmas stockings

~John J. Dunphy

Half moon

playing hide and seek with Orion

the green comet

~Françoise Maurice

irritating "smart" house

can't override the password

of former tenant

~Jennifer Gurney

zero at the bone

infinity circles

the flower's square root

~Robert Witmer

Afternoon of February 1, 2023

birds scattering my bones picked clean

~Rowan Beckett

slipstream the other me perfect

~Rowan Beckett

If/Then

If your raw id

has no executive function

to speak of

to claw through

to reach sky, then

~Harrison Fisher

cracking an egg in the sun’s hiccup

~Patricia Hawkhead

yknow i crack night like an egg

~Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

Point

Counterpointcounterpointcounter

point counterpointcounterpointcounter

point counterpointcounterpointcounter

point count them pointless!

~Keith Snow

 

Trash in the woods

         at least

I know I'm not alone

~Steve Van Allen

Marriage

Laptops

Alight, we lie and watch

Different screens side-by-side.

I don’t know where you are, but you’re

With me.

~Noah Berlatsky

 

by the hands of a cop corpse flower

~Rowan Beckett

unlearning the patriarchy no such thing as forbidden fruit

~Kerry J Heckman

to deconstruct

a butterfly

a bomb

~Tiffany Shaw-Diaz