Afternoon of January 12, 2024

 

I wonder –

do unread library books

debate story outcomes

~Jennifer Schneider

Drafting

on an open highway –

equal parts right and revenge.

a blend of a thousand plot lines,

square corners in circular spaces,

and a thousand alternative story ends.

~Jennifer Schneider

day after snow

a few slacker geese

step up flight

~Biswajit Mishra

sand leaves

with every ebbing tide

pilings shift

beach front property

makes a splash

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Uproar

There is nothing stable in this world—uproar’s your only music. – John Keats

Roar up. Roar down. It’s all chaos.

The only stable is for the horses,

and that might have blown away.

~Nolcha Fox

Takes More Than Looks

My late wife and her dead sister

show up together at my door

I slip out the back.

Tackled by an ex gf

bony fingers at my throat

is a deathbed conversion

still an option?

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Lotus flower

I plucked

from a muddy pond.

~Fhen M.

first cockcrow

witches stop dancing

in my dream

~Bidyut Prabha Gantayat

What the Toaster Hates

Grubby fingers

Jam, jelly, and butter

Crumbs in its bottom

Being banged headfirst on the counter

Roaches, crawling inside, laying eggs!

The new toaster

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

clam clowder —

cat watches cat

watching cat

~Rupa Anand

I have written

thousands of poems about cats—

but not one today

~Jennifer Gurney

Conception

Phones beep at subway stops.

Dating apps creep into bedroom breakups.

Tomato juice is too acidic.

Juice bars promise sweet match ups

(no additives needed).

Alerts report newly filed lawsuits.

Meta is accused of promoting addiction

(addictive qualities conspired).

Together, we conceive.

~Jennifer Schneider

She shh ssh hhh sss —

a leaf whispers to the grass

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

I can hear pictures

SEGA

~Fhen M.

Ring, cake, ring, bell, bell, cake.

~Fhen M.

I am letters without alphabet

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

Evening of January 10, 2024

  

 

the telescopefish

shapes from ninety-nine

fathoms

~Richard Magahiz

airstrike a misuse of air

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

in case of love   scan with this laser

~Richard Magahiz

vestigial organ i remain the assistant manager

~Raghav Prashant Sundar

chain smoker under the door

~Elliot Diamond

the shape-shifting carcass: silent vultures

~Arvinder Kaur

background tv news all my haiku about war

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

cicadas were their bridesmaids starlings their ushers

~Richard Magahiz

in her garden

only nightshades

moon magic

~Steve Van Allen

resplendent trogans

their under-tails

flash in code

~Richard Magahiz

A 2D square sees the surrounding in one dimension

let it fly and hover over the 3D earth.

But what is a tesseract?

~Fhen M.

gaps

in the audio

from the Neolithic

~Richard Magahiz

I’m sure that 100,000


sciences have proven

rain is, too

~J. D. Nelson

I am so dirty / I do so very much need / some old-fashioned soap

~Charles A. Perrone

I Did It

You’re supposed to put grief in every poem.

~Noah Berlatsky

cavewolf sprite

oh, you could:


hiccough downtown

o the oooooooo

~J. D. Nelson

woodland walk

I follow my dog's example

and pee

~John J. Dunphy

Afternoon of January 10, 2024

 

new year

filling the recycling bin

same old resolutions

~Wanda Amos

Hiding in the Cabbage Patch

Companies can collect data

on connected children's products,

microphones and high-def cameras

hidden in the terms and conditions,

as you discover who's really behind

those dead, black marble eyes

of your child's favorite

stuffed and plush baby doll.

~Chris Butler

bicycles

on the screen

am I a robot

~David Josephsohn

robots

on the screen

am I a bicycle

~David Josephsohn

dragon’s breath—

pursuing the expectations

for hope and peace

in this waning year

of the rabbit

~Wanda Amos

Man Is Insane

Man

will start wars

for an invisible god,

but does not care if

they intentionally kill

their next door neighbor,

just because they haven't

shaved their shaggy lawn

in a couple of weeks.

~Chris Butler

there’s only purple where your head should be

~David Josephsohn

Tofu Dreg

Complex apartment complexes

crafted by empty egg cartons,

collapsing, crushing and cracking

all of the fragile human shells

piled by the hundreds high inside.

~Chris Butler

Parents

Father and Mother

bring us into this world.

Father Time and Mother Nature

take us out.

~Chris Butler

Scratchy Baby

Pour salt in the womb

and I shrivel up like a slug,

since I'm such an itchy baby

wearing little scratchy mittens.

~Chris Butler

mirrors

above both sinks

double vanity

~David Josephsohn

Afternoon of January 7, 2024

straight-arming the dashboard: a life spent bracing for impact

~Patrick Sweeney

paper snowflakes without knowing why climate change

~John Pappas

eyes without cataracts;

naked,

afraid,

vulnerable,

ugly

face without glasses.

~Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

a poem

with a mind of its own

digital citizen

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

the crowds now appear / loudly clamoring to see / all of my etchings

~Charles A. Perrone

Grief Is a Mother

She flips me upside down

and slaps me on the rump

until I stop breathing

and start crying.

~Nolcha Fox

bombs away in a manger

~John Pappas

the fifth finger on my hand

pretends to be torn off

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

postcolonial firing the western canon

~John Pappas

in deep waters: the blue whale of faith

~Patrick Sweeney

from dawn to dusk sunflower mechanics

~John Pappas

cat cute cut out ou oh o zero

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

I used to write long letters with a knife-sharpened pencil

~Patrick Sweeney

late fall—

a plastic parachutist

in the rain gutter

~John Pappas

by falling down

I see the wildflowers

much better

~Luke Levi

homecoming

under her collarbone

diving swallows

~John Pappas

winter night

the taste of no

strawberries

~John Pappas

The world’s best dental floss —

your hair.

~Oliver Kleyer

another growl

my right ear pressed against

the dentist's stomach

~John J. Dunphy

new year’s day

fresh strings on

an old guitar

~John Pappas

distant thunder

he orders more

toe tags

~John Pappas

Somebody’s reading

Night Train to Lisbon on the

morning bus to Rendsburg.

~Oliver Kleyer

that part of himself always pivoting as if to make a break for it

~Patrick Sweeney

new moon the clickclickclick of the delete key

~John Pappas

the constant intrusions of the ordinary

~Patrick Sweeney