Morning of April 6, 2023

Go Boldly

I shall tint your cheeks

the hue of a buttercup,

plucked from the end

of your shortest pencil,

for what are whispers

amid the hoarding

of thieves but melons,

stripped of their salt?

~Kelly Moyer

his fingers part the grackle of oysters

~Mark Gilbert

a distant ant

from the hills

family reunion

~Robert Witmer

Insomnia

gives you a lot of time to think about

insomnia.

~Noah Berlatsky

counting calories …

one thousand

two thousand

three thousand …

~Mark Gilbert

bottom line

the darkness that troubles

our prophets

~Robert Witmer

bluebell

foxglove

herb

robert

lily

of

the

valley

of

depression

~Mark Gilbert

Footnote

Girlfriend, my moon’s too full

to be eclipsed by your caesura.

So, I’m stitching a rat’s ass

into your celebratory shawl.

From here on out, no oyster

shall go ungilded. I will shuck

the fuck out of the wisteria

blooms. Yes, this is the prime

of my canvas, blank as a stare

in the face of your disregard.

~Kelly Moyer

Queen Elizabeth

Jane Austen, J K Rowling

John, Paul, George, Ringo

Sean Connery, Doc Martin

Some of my favorite Brits

~Jennifer Gurney

economy not you

~Robert Witmer

new moon —

the umpteenth time

I say sorry

~Daipayan Nair

homesick —

tulips make way through

my veins

~Debarati Sen

Afternoon of April 5, 2023

Spider

There was a spider

at the bottom of the ocean,

dealing cards to players

in the casino.

~Marc Isaac Potter

clean window

fly tut-tuts

on its way out

~Kavita Ratna

school shooting

a permanent tooth forever

halfway in

~David Oates

My father’s dead

And I’m watching tv

And I’m eating cheese

My father’s dead

And I’m flossing

My father’s dead and

My father’s dead

~David Oates

newspaper photo

a dog lying in the road

eyes closed

kindly caption writer:

‘and a tired dog’

~David Oates

Death is always waiting

until she isn’t looking,

when she forgets precautions

against gruesome, grisly end.

Disaster movies can’t prepare her,

crisis rations wrapped in foil

in her bunker won’t forestall

choking on a bone.

~Nolcha Fox

Leaking Chocolate

A chocolate candy gun,

the heat of the barrel,

leaking onto the boy’s

bare hand,

Leaking onto the boys.

~Marc Isaac Potter

April fool’s day

on the cherry blossom

a layer of snow

~Françoise Maurice

the queen’s banjo

will be missed

at the hootenanny

~David Oates

sun drunk laying with the pavement snake

~Kelly Moyer

locusts downgraded from plague to misdemeanor

~Kelly Moyer