Afternoon of July 21, 2024

                                                 Crawdaddy 

                                                ~Kelly Moyer

                                               
Photography available here




rocky raccoon masking behavior

~Jerome Berglund




dragon lady

afloat in the deep end

raccoon mascara

~Randy Brooks




plenty of fish . . .

wash ashore

in the heatwave

~Kimberly Kuchar




raining men

raining apples

in a surrealistic realm

~Fhen M.




Life of Mom


On the fridge

I taped

a drawing

a house, a sun,

blue skies

Keep practicing”

I said to her

I’ll help you

~Katie Hong




I can’t stop crying

but then—

chocolate mousse

~Sharon Ferrante




Tears


Tears are not the dishes

of diplomacy

but melancholic chirps

of a solitary nightingale.

~O.P. Jha




Life’s theatre —

We enter

Hit our marks

Say our lines

Exit on cue

 

No rehearsal

No applause

No encore

 

Reviews will

Always be mixed

~Pam Makin




Light

Night

A road that leads

To new ways

New days

 

Dawn is somewhere

Beyond darkness

 

And I am alone

 

Ranting

 

Like a prophet

~Pam Makin




etiquette blogger

so thoughtless

as a corpse

~John J. Dunphy




opening window wide

a deep breath of fresh

chemical reactions

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




Orange as Ever


Gone with the wind

As all things should

The orange evening fades violet

As the leaves bristle in surprise

Life passes by


Cradled back and forth with the meshing seasons

Left in a tepid cycle

But as long as it is orange,

It’s fine.

~David Kim




Lost in Blue


Remember life

You used to be so blue

Satisfied if I play along

First embrace I shared with you

Above us, only sky

I can paint the world

It was all just make believe

~Jian Yeo




grandpa recites

a poem from Lord Byron

milking a cow

~Randy Brooks




ragout

on the polenta

no crosstalk

~Jerome Berglund




A Very Serious Gallery

 

The sign outside says

you are not welcome

if you are a Bon Jovi fan.

 

I will admit

I don’t like Bon Jovi much.

But now I wish I did.

~Noah Berlatsky




carnival rings

the various colours

of happiness

~Mona Bedi




kicking pad—

the karate kids

kick rain

~Tejendra Sherchan




grove stream—

quickens its gurgle

finding the slope

~Tejendra Sherchan




Just relax” they said

Go with the flow”

But they couldn’t hear the roar

of the waterfall inside my head

~Pam Makin




everything we see hides another thing,

we always want to see

what is hidden by what we see

~Fhen M.

 


Afternoon of July 19, 2024

 

 

 

 

Demitasse

~Dennis Andrew Aguinaldo




 

 

 

 

 

the wood sucker...

craftily clamping itself on

crawls up a tree

~Tejendra Sherchan




stink

stank

skunk

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




rotting log

the professor’s list

of exhausted forms

~John Pappas




some rotting turnip

the wireworm

counts the hours

~Richard Magahiz




ninety foot tulip

a pre-fab home

in its shade

~Richard Magahiz




just 2% pregnant

the ka rushes

back in

~Richard Magahiz




everything those souls

said, thought, did -

Gone. Gone. Gone.

~Richard Magahiz




"Cooking for One"

I add a book to

my divorce gift registry

~John J. Dunphy




without my glasses

can’t find the glasses I dropped

till I step on them

~James Penha




Spirit Walk


he steps out

as I step in

no one in the house

no one on the street

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel




asking me

what’s in your womb

politicians

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




seijaku

seeking renewal

in silence

~Olinda Ninolakis




out of our jurisdiction shooting stars

~John Pappas




you’ll find me in fiction dusking snow

~John Pappas




back after these messages assassination nation

~John Pappas



Afternoon of July 15, 2024

 

Behind the colourful city

~Ah-young Dana Park



Geese line

the volleyball

sand pit.

They are

starting

their weekend

ahead of

schedule.

~Beth Gulley




the monsoon rain

resurrects a dry river—

giant snake

~Tejendra Sherchan




wherever

there is riversong

I am not alone

~Jennifer Gurney




assassination attempt

sniper and photographer

both shooting

~John J. Dunphy




the Wu Wei of showing a fly the door

~Patrick Sweeney




we were only told to stay off the third rail

~Patrick Sweeney




I and I by and by one world

~dan smith




he had the wrong head for this century

~Patrick Sweeney




And at last


And at last,

At the end of the play,

The small fries are killed.

~Partha Sarkar



circling between buildings

the hawk swoops

a white plastic bag

~Padma Rajeswari Tata




there were many golden bracelets & robes

purple-perfumed, ornate trinkets

before they turned to war trophies

~Fhen M.




A signal far from the soul


The stagnancy in the afternoon.

No positive human touch in the journey.

I listen only to the birds, the rustling

And a signal far from the soul

A green flute played by the tree.


Move on my brightest thoughts towards the evening.


A night with the fairytale lulls me to sleep


I am prepared to run tomorrow.

~Partha Sarkar




My Pigeon Feet


are moved by pain and joy.

Damp soils cake the yard

as paled bones extend past vines –

growing, searching, feeling.

They feel the warmth of the doormat,

resting their soles under blankets of wood.

Nails kneading away at the intricate texture,

My pigeon feet prance around in butterfly steps.

As Grandmother likes to call them,

loving, searching, feeling.

~Sigrid Kim




he was the kind of guy who felt the pains of the world coming up through the soles of his Hush Puppies

~Patrick Sweeney




he showed off his new crown in the middle of the fish fry

~Patrick Sweeney




child's art

on her father's car

screwdriver markings

~Tuyet Van Do



the Pompeii fresco could be any poet

the pixelated boy could be me

reminiscing what was beautiful & pure.

~Fhen M.




Diversity in One

~Ah-young Dana Park

Afternoon of July 13, 2024

first senryu

a flea lands between

fragment & phrase

~Cezar Ciobica




I wanted my legs

to take me somewhere else.


But the cat sat on them.

That has to be good enough.

~Noah Berlatsky




Nepal Idol

a tailorbird’s monsoon wail

subdues him

~Tejendra Sherchan




polluting our planet assigned gender balloons

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




a bob-weave

for the camera

Nessie

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




safety pins

and stardust

Ziggy, Iggy

Hoagy and Bix

~dan smith




Routine


At birth, when the doctor slapped me,

I yawned, I haven't caught up since


I work night shift. I'm so tired I take a nap

before I go to bed.


When I wake up, the bags under my eyes have bags, have bags...

~Keith Snow




foster care child

her third home

this year

~John J. Dunphy




Echoes of You


Your singing has become my alarm,

karaoke, blasting songs in the shower as I desperately cover my ears.

I would wave hi to your friends, me an old grandma,

trying to be cool.

Your 3 shades of lip gloss, never-matching pairs of socks,

and pink backpack covered in grass can always be spotted around our house,

Leaving a trail like Hansel and Gretel back to your room.


But now I wake up to silence, a spotless room

where nothing covers the carpet, and a dry, empty shower.

Maybe I miss those loud mornings.

~Karen Lee




bamboo thicket

behind the high school

scattered bones

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel




Blockhead


Pinocchio fell victim

to the wood beetles' lust;

dust spurting from a myriad adits,

he collapsed at his father's door,

but that is not dead, etc; automaton,

wayward robot carved from wood,

he rose again, riddled with scars,

but a real boy at last.

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel




cautiously a lizard

crosses the road...

run over frog beside

~Tejendra Sherchan




Overseas


Is there no one who truly cares for me?

I can see the stars all the way from here

Shining just the way I like

I have faith in what I see

I feel your whisper across the sea

Another moment passing by

It’s okay, we’re the best of friends

~Olivia Park




Grass Routes to Victory


tennis match psychic

predicts Wimbledon winner

net prophet

~John H. Dromey




along train route

hidden messages

in spray-painted curves

~Patricia Carragon




AGING WOUNDS


familial

laughter—

elbow

pressure

applied

to aging wounds

~Andrew Buckner




flagpole without a flag

a national anthem without singers

~Fhen M.




a rose is a rose

a house is a house

logic is an interesting subject

~Fhen M.




helpless

an ugly feeling

comfort but no answers

a powerful hug

but brittle future

~Rae Greenwood




This Is Where


This is where an innocent man visited,

stuck with thoughts, considerations, and feelings

This is where many face edges and nails through their skins

Screaming in excruciating pain

This is where one’s item disappears from their car in a minute

This is where one can lose oneself after touching a dollar on the street

This is where red is the color that is seen the most everywhere

This is where many want homes

This is where street food is common

This is where cheering is scarce

~Sean Kim




My superpower

is getting

out of bed

~Nolcha Fox




My Night


Fog patches

Occasional drizzle

Occasional pain

Very poor at times

0330 now rising

Showers

Becoming very rough

or high later

~Ann Smith




a flea crushed at the end of dad's death poem

~Cezar Ciobica

 

Five Fleas swag:

https://www.zazzle.com/store/five_fleas

Afternoon of July 10, 2024

 

Nature’s Artistry – Earth

~Sean Kyung




narcissists

don't do

thoughtful

~Jennifer Gurney




window wash froth

stirring dark clouds

into the murk

~Mark Gilbert




the dance

of Red Capped Manakin—

Moonwalk

~Tejendra Sherchan




I saw Mother Ignacia in the Eight Sphere

among constellations of the Middle Ages

in the liquid-bearing Aquarius

saints & princes drank a cupful of ambrosia

~Fhen M.




sitting in the sun

the shadow of the church

falls on my left

~marc brimble




Chasing Angels


I have been

beyond

the forbidden hours.


Very few go there;

fewer return.


I have been there

more than once.


I do not regret it.

I WILL go back,

again.

~R. Gerry Fabian




each day just kinda swam off


like fish

shiny and funny

and weird looking

one after another

slipping thru my fingers

and escaping

~marc brimble




The Weed


A weed

As tall as me;

Cut it down, it grows back

As tall as before. Unless it

Doesn’t.

~Noah Berlatsky




sliding

into closing arguments

door squeak

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




school photos

back when we knew

so little

~Roberta Beach Jacobson




"today's my birthday"

the panhandler tells me

three days straight

~John J. Dunphy




still

making jam

for you

even after

you're gone

~Jennifer Gurney




Love Language

~Gavin Kim