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

Morning of July 22, 2023

Mona Lisa —

the smile i saved

for him

~Mona Bedi

watermelon

seed-spitting contest

I win against myself

~Jennifer Gurney

VFW Post

the soccer game on its TV

USA vs. Vietnam

~John J. Dunphy

Essential

Essence, every word to count -

though scattered seed may germinate -

is it broadcast, plants for judge,

ore vein embedded, mind if will?

A waste of shame when spirit cedes,

a rhythm method, rhyme enforced,

when concentrate distilled, required,

the alchemy, requited smith.

~Stephen Kingsnorth

morning yoga

a row of red ants

under the mat

~Bidyut Prabha Gantayat

stone wall

small painful crevice

 Hornets nest

 ~Steve Van Allen

saying it as it is a mosquito’s buzz

~Mona Bedi

the sons she never had lost love

~Mona Bedi

light drizzle letting go of all chaos

~Mona Bedi