Evening of March 17, 2023

 

some days these old bones

run too long on empty —

lost lottery

~Alfred Booth

between the Ides

and Saint Pat — more

reasons to stumble

~Alfred Booth

the redwood's root canal: a chainsaw aria

~Robert Witmer

deep in the woods: no clock ticks bite

~Robert Witmer

it’s senescence

not effervescence

when words no longer

bubble up like alka-seltzer

~James Penha

orange

in the barren tree

a desert moon

~Robert Witmer

 

purple lips

blowing kisses

beneath a wine-dark sea

~Robert Witmer

Cassandra

an empty bucket echoes

in a dry well

~Robert Witmer

the flyer

for a bungee jump

a money-back guarantee

~Robert Witmer

a spool of time

stitched past its prime

asteroids

in a vacuum

rhyme

~Robert Witmer

Real Poet

I’m a real poet

since I have all of these books

of poetry that I plan

to have read someday.

~Noah Berlatsky

 

Afternoon of March 16, 2023

 

 

change reaction

 

one

fist

raised

in anger

against the power

multiplies exponentially

~Joseph Farley

eviction day

dragged from his tent

at the homeless encampment

an unkempt man shows the cops

his Purple Heart

~John J. Dunphy

Base Metal

There was no golden age.

This is no golden century.

We must take the lead we find

and learn the art of alchemy.

~Joseph Farley

Cassandra

You have the right to remain silent,

To anything you say, no one will listen.

Open your mouth in an empty scream

emitting sound so high or low

that no one can hear.

~Joseph Farley

Even A Dog Knows

A beaten dog whines in the night, but not too loud for fear of another kick.

A beaten dog knows that love and loyalty are only words recited in the dark

to mask the fact of the leash and the hand that holds it.

A beaten dog, as all dogs do, will look up at the full moon and feel the urge to howl,

but his lungs fail him as he longs not just to shout greeting but to go to that cold satellite

or any other place where no one will beat him even though they still may walk on him.

~Joseph Farley

O’ Just a Trail Any

 

On my journey to nowhere where nothing was found.

I slept when the moon came and listen to its restless unheard sound.

 

By morning with much regret, I forgot the nothingness my restless

Heart and mind was set. There was no song left to rhyme and

 

If reason escape me. I was not the one it would find.

~Marchell Dyon

women's day . . .

I gift mimosas to

my mother

~Bipasha Majumder (De)

weekend laundry

on a quick spin

Ferris wheels

~Rupa Anand

Concrete geisha unearthing

lunch

on mars.

~Noah Berlatsky

Looking Forward and Back

I dream of tomorrow

and the day before yesterday.

while today,

today is just a pain in the ass.

~Joseph Farley

Next To Nothing

When all you have is nothing

or next to it

you hold on to what little you have.

Guard your mango and your rags

for it is all that separates you

from being nothing yourself.

~Joseph Farley

Progress

I prefer to think of it as standing

in the same place

while technology goes backwards

more slowly.

~Noah Berlatsky

Evening of March 15, 2023

origami paper

an ark

for the animal crackers

~Kelly Moyer

jesus saves

pennies

at the pump

~Kelly Moyer

 

Revelation

Failure

Makes me anxious.

 

Now at last I know

success

makes me anxious

also.

~Noah Berlatsky

southern gospel praising mama’s moonshine

~Kelly Moyer

gulf oysters more a philosophy than a flamingo

~Kelly Moyer

undressing the salad i make of you

~Kelly Moyer

spare change a bounty on the head of her postage stamp

~Kelly Moyer

poached pears as though you, too, can blossom

~Kelly Moyer

parking lot

in the driver seat she sits

plucking eyebrows

~Tuyet Van Do

 

grade school logic the bald spot in her brow

~Kelly Moyer

 

Lambs or Lions

to

say it's

only, cold

when the wind blows

in the month of March

is like saying my ribs

only hurt when I'm breathing

as the pandemic is measured

in years and no longer in just months

we must get out, meet, even if windy.

~Keith Snow

 

that day a flower sings to the birds

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

ants conga-line a peony stem light rain

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

buckley's over cohen's hallelujah

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

a small dog playing a piano spots on the sun

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

pig farm :: a fragrance

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

Evening of March 12, 2023

puzzling out

the footprints in the snow

alien invasion

~Joshua St. Claire

family planning —

the awkwardness of

a relative's advice

~Daipayan Nair

a nightmare…

my red kettle

hums a lullaby

~Kavita Ratna

the crust bends    a borehole spurts syrup   

~Richard Magahiz

The cruelty of

Children can be staggering

With a single word

~Jennifer Gurney

How can a full moon

Wreak havoc on the playground

From so far away

~Jennifer Gurney

Have you ever tried

Writing a simple word and

It just looks all wrong?

~Jennifer Gurney

when these shackles

were forged, dodos wept —

O the shame

~Richard Magahiz

women's day the little old lady speaks alone

~Françoise Maurice

Indian curries

way of ghost pepper

from top to bottom

~Bidyut Prabha Gantayat

Stairway to Heaven

closed. Important construction

work about to begin.

~Oliver Kleyer

the door's friendly squeak in your wake

~Mirela Brailean

death asana—

my instinct

to survive

~Ram Chandran

not a soul

in the darkness

yet the fear...

~Sreenath

The switch

That silences the phone

Is broken.

What?

~Noah Berlatsky

marriage—

she packs her dreams

inside a garbage bag

~Debarati Sen

lullaby

she hums

to the empty cradle

~Debarati Sen

Dry lab

  slutter

  in the keypad 

  this is a re re re  

argus howls the horrible starlight

  flashblind

  at our feet the guts

  of a nebula

pickaxe strikes steel and that's how things end

~Richard Magahiz