Evening of July 29, 2023

childhood diary

even now

what she wonders

~Richard L. Matta

mudflats

all that’s left

between us

~Richard L. Matta

as we turn

to glance at our past …

we see our future

~Jennifer Gurney

static electricity

our charged words switch

to emojis

~Richard L. Matta

a justification of crooked toes this rocky path

~Arvinder Kaur

a narrative of broken bangles lost rainbow

~Arvinder Kaur

poet mocks himself

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

engineering humor airline seats

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

right under his nose

lips

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

So I Go Walking



Mother’s day dinner stuffs me so full of warm alcohol and lobster ravioli and love…

Quarantine sticks me up in a house full of hidden arguments threatening to boil over at a

moment’s notice…

I’m a little tired today and it's too cold to walk to the gym anyway…

Last night forced one too many handfuls of chex mix down my throat…

Depression swirls in my stomach with the changing of the seasons and I just don’t want to

have to think about anything at all.

~Izzy Astuto

in the flea’s diary

one more

bloody workday

survived slippery slopes…

note to self—avoid the matting

bug out

~Richard L. Matta

midsummer relief —

using the bark of the cherry

as a backscratcher

~Colette Kern

Home Invasion

Yesterday holds a gun to my head,

demands wasted time in nickels and quarters.

Today holds the bullets, collects empty cartridges.

You’re so disappointing, he says.

Tomorrow tip-toes to the door.

He wants to leave before the bleeding starts.

~Nolcha Fox

where the sea grapes grow

and the sand sparkling white

i sit in my

~Gillena Cox

Thou art more lovely

Thou art more

Thou art

Thou

~Noah Berlatsky

Afternoon of July 29, 2023

at the museum

I wave to the sculpture

with a missing hand

~Sharon Ferrante

formally

known as william

bill of rights

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

empty bench

my mind

—sits

~Sharon Ferrante

Counting Back from 2

 

I've been thinking

about Creature

from the Black Lagoon

and its two sequels.

 

Most of the world gets by

on one pair of shoes

 

or less.

~Glen Armstrong

weather report

even the ouija board

unsure

~Stephanie Zepherelli

Dog Days Christmas

our evergreen lighted

by fireflies

~John J. Dunphy

Greek cafe

the Spanish omelette

leaks American cheese

~Joshua St. Claire

Your Favourite Band

 

Your favourite band  

has a new album out. 

You purchase it,  

play it once  

all the way through  

but then you return to their classics  

you know and love  

and stay with that golden,  

olden music. 

~Allen Ashley 

vintage Batman

my son asks

if hippies are real

~Joshua St. Claire

Evening of July 26, 2023

grand canyon intentionally left blank

~J. D. Nelson

floating

down the canyon

I am a bird

~Jennifer Gurney

Ice Cream, Anyone?

Summer love is a cicada 

stuck halfway out of its shell, 

baking in the afternoon sun 

as an army of ants 

devours every ounce of hope 

held for a better life, 

thus making a mockery 

of the belief in 

a just yet merciful god.

~Kelly Moyer

ten-point pain scale

second nature to say

only a four

~Shasta Hatter

cronehood

my life

as an erasure poem

~Kelly Moyer

county fair

no longer pretending

to be feminist

~Kelly Moyer

the last bee imperishable plastic cube

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

sashimi whispers while the tuna dream

~Jean-Paul Moyer

pandemic passé

not in my life where pink

parallel lines rule

~James Penha

just you’n’me

and the three

elephants in the room

~Mark Gilbert

Telling my life story

to the other characters

unprompted

~Mark Gilbert

The fake ID says I am older

but not wiser.

~Noah Berlatsky

wooden elbow march or april

~J. D. Nelson

trash day we pick through our attributes

~Kelly Moyer

starry noodle tree soup

~J. D. Nelson

shooting stars I always miss

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel 

 

 

stars crossing against the light

~Kelly Moyer