Afternoon of December 26, 2023

A woodpecker's bill 

rapping a series of notes.

Twelve drummers drumming

for money, they sing.

~Fhen M. 

sanctified ice

church's holy water

during the power outage

~John J. Dunphy

full moon grows bright

as the world fades to gray and black

dollar store baskets

full of bright, plastic, colors

~Steve Van Allen

lessening a little more holiday diet

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

post-holiday thaw

only my snowman

losing weight

~John J. Dunphy

for whom do we drink water if from heaven God brings down rain on the earth?

for whom do we live if the top angels press the wrong buttons?

it turns out that we all live on a cloud

it turns out that we are electronic rivers of rain from electronic clouds

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

(Originally published in Ripple Lit)

hiding

surprises in every corner

St Nick and cranny

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Christmas Eve

 

Midnight is mysterious

when you are old.

I fell asleep at eight.

~Noah Berlatsky

the fear of dying in a dream woke up again

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

Layover Poem

This is living, This is life;

a small chuckle,

Fey Inebriation

before an endless,

sleepless dream.

~Thomas Skahill

French film

the smell of the cheese sauce

on their nachos

~Marie Derley

Some Like It Hot

It seems more

Like it luke-warm,

Like lapped milk

or the radiance

We peel back from the stars.

~Thomas Skahill

reverting to whisky—

warding off the cold

from within

~Jennifer Gurney

If The Lights In My Head Go Out

I’d show my friends the door,

and how it feels

when the vertical green

hits their face like a jilted clover

after a night of irish whiskey.

~Thomas Skahill

hunting screenshots

in a storm door world

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

our        A

                         |

              C — first —G

                         |

                        T         word
~Shane Coppage

learning curve

8 

letters

make 

i-n-f-i-n-i-t-y

~Shane Coppage

cold

        snaps at my feet

ghost

        we named you Pocket

dad 

        left his mind skin

        on the moss-bright lintel

stay

        everything's okay until it isn't

~Shane Coppage

if I won the lottery—

front row tickets to the

Rolling Stones

~Jennifer Gurney

cemetery

on each child's grave

a candy cane

~John J. Dunphy

Afternoon of December 22, 2023

Baudelaire in the Frigidaire: The 60-Cycle Hymn

full fathom fly

soft velvet soft

sky-lift music

steals the deep blue

strobe light sun

~dan smith

Simone and Jean Paul

gnomic thick-lensed

cigarettes and wine

sacramental threesomes

a Nietzschean design

~dan smith

white knuckles

gripping the wheel

carpool tunnel syndrome

~David Josephsohn

As solid as a stone

coffee’s combined with hot water

a little stir, a little patience

all things hard have a soft spot.

~Fhen M.

The Art of Poetry, The Poetry of Art

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~Noah Berlatsky

dying to know how it feels living wage

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

statues

die too

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

polka

resistant

dots

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

One-Liner

______________________________

~Noah Berlatsky

Afternoon of December 18, 2023

Can insomnia

keep up with jet lag?

~Noah Berlatsky

My compost pile

is full of tiny staples

strings and teabag tags.

~Terry Trowbridge

Smash into powder

the coffee beans

exposed to open air

overnight hardens.

~Fhen M.

i  se n r yu  k

u k i ah

~Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

The Cleveland School of Advanced Outlaw Poetics

screw 'em

if they can't

take a joke

~dan smith

our multi-faith home

the candles for

Hanukkah, Christmas and solstice

all set ablaze from

the same box of matches

~John J. Dunphy

why me–

next door neighbors

hang flashing lights

~Jennifer Gurney

veteran's nativity set

one of the wise men

missing a leg

~John J. Dunphy

transporting a team

of Alaskan reindeer

to the Philly Zoo

Rudolph with his nose so bright

upgraded to first class

~Bonnie J Scherer

Christmas Eve live nativity

the smallest angel

keeps yawning

~John J. Dunphy

modern

gifts of the Magi–

delivery from Amazon

~Jennifer Gurney

outdoor Christmas carolers

Silent Night followed by

a coyote howl

~John J. Dunphy

spring tulips

winter cacti

autumn roses

summer rains

everything around is waiting

for the end of the world

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

(Originally published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal)

ants warm their belly under

the sun like a giant

organs crawl out from

their own disgrace

eve of the last war

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

(Originally published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal)

smoke cloud

the teddy loses

its only eye

~Arvinder Kaur

war destruction

in my hometown

cicadas cry

~Arvinder Kaur

Afternoon of December 14, 2023

 

i exist 

i walk past the bar

with my nerves

on high alert,

wishing that i didn't

need to feel so 

threatened simply because

i exist.

~linda m. crate 

orchids & ginger


my only request

is for orchids and ginger

on my breakfast table

no one here but me

and my omelet of wishes

~mark s kuhar

full moon hike

my cautious friend

applies sunscreen

~John J. Dunphy

In the dark room, moths saunter

on my bright cellphone screen.

~Fhen M.

his cute gnarled fist

in the midst of springtime mist

frightens some away

~Charles A. Perrone

these flaming feathers 

you are the vampire,

i am the flame;

this little phoenix will

burn you until your

ashes never rise again.

~linda m. crate 

self-talk when the artist is fat phobic:

i am a work of art,

one of a kind;

irreplaceable—

a worthy muse of any

capable artist.

~linda m. crate 

bones


the bones of trees

against a fire-soaked sky

today, work. tomorrow, work.

~mark s kuhar