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

Evening of December 13, 2023

 

to whom should I dedicate my tears?

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

nearing the earth, the second thoughts of snowflakes

~Patrick Sweeney

the mental exhaustion of the pathological liar

~Patrick Sweeney

waiting to remember where I am

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

my ear hurts as if there is no ear at all

 ~Mykyta Ryzhykh

I'd be the leaf tangled in your hair

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

you'll never catch a particle physicist saying 'it is what it is'

~Patrick Sweeney

Blueberry Weather

A gale's blowing up,

and there's ripe fruit to windward,

it'll soon be smashing fences,

frightening livestock,

blueing white-washed walls,

creating a god-awful mess,

but capture just one,

and we'll eat jam on toast

all year long.

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

when I tell them I don't have a phone

~Patrick Sweeney

on the attic stairs

with the phone cord stretched full out–

straining to hear cousins

~Jennifer Gurney

waking

inside the snake

too late
for the knife

on my nightstand

for a last breath

for anything

but regret

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

left turn lost

right turn

very lost

~Mike Fainzilber

out of your face

out of your space

out of your way

out of your day

I’ll be back…

~Mike Fainzilber

ants crawl on a coffee cup

swim in the dark pool

ah, the world's a bitter place!

~Fhen M.

of the six of us, mom said I was the only one who never learned to climb out of the playpen

~Patrick Sweeney

the summer man walked on the moon      I circumnavigated the ringworm on my brother's neck

~Patrick Sweeney

Starlink shoots

across the slate night sky

space chain letter

~JL Huffman

Brisk Trade

exporting ghosts to the stars

weightless and compressible

thousands in a box like so

dunno what they use 'em for

but their coin is good

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

equations

simulations

all the rest is poetry

~Mike Fainzilber

Zoom meeting

Hijacked by a narcissistic

Regular

“I’m the greatest poet never known”

Time to get a drink

~Diane Funston

poems don't have to end

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

Afternoon of December 13, 2023

to breathe

is a habit

so easily acquired

this planet of flame

  has other needs

~Richard Magahiz

piercing the

plum-colored cloud deck

ground-glass towers


~Richard Magahiz

frozen in a rut the engine waits for doomsday

~Richard Magahiz

racing toward that last breath the sky is not enough

~Richard Magahiz

inside of the moon not a hobby

~J. D. Nelson

I saw it in half white chocolate macadamia cookie

~J. D. Nelson

(zero) dart dart dart

~J. D. Nelson

the queen’s golden garment rumples tilt skin

~Robert Witmer

Sensus Plenior

 

might we assume

God knows more

than words

a single mind

would have them be

the opposite of war

is poetry

~Robert Witmer

compensation

at the used car lot

lemon punch

~Robert Witmer

The Rule of Law

 

indictment

the sea is silent

the calm before the storm

 

indictment

the see is silent

for none so blind

 

indictment

the c is silent

do not acquit

~Robert Witmer

MAN’S MAN

 

The tear

you never saw

was like a minnow

swimming in my eye,

swallowed

by the big fish

of my hand

~John Grey

PAGE

 

Cruising a country road,

critters splattered on asphalt

before me,

or thumped to death,

either side - 

 

driving’s like

reading a newspaper

that’s flopped open

at the obituaries.

~John Grey

A PROPOSAL

 

When I make a mistake,

you do not chastise me loudly

nor slap my wrist

nor turn on your heels

and leave the room in a huff.

You merely correct my error

and we both move on.

Ah, Spellcheck.

~John Grey

rattling chains

I greet the spirit

with a cup of tea

~Kimberly Kuchar

searching

the dark string of lights

one dead bulb

or

replacing a single bulb

the whole string lights up

~Kimberly Kuchar

snowburn

the end of a holiday

romance

~Kimberly Kuchar

God's greatest gift

to mankind—

not you

~Kimberly Kuchar

Ubi sunt ...

the snows

such snows

long gone

~dan smith