Afternoon of August 18, 2023

 

summer shedding

about to sweep up

half a cat

~Eavonka Ettinger

heatwave

backyard tree

rains a squirrel

~tom blessing

itchy indictment . . .

accepting a flea deal

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

chorus frogs

waiting in the wings

for their big break

~Eavonka Ettinger

nothing profound

in her words

yet she continues

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

insured elder

riddled with ailments

the perfect patient

~Christa Pandey

she told me

i need to get my butt

out of my head

years later i am still

working on that

~tom blessing

summer outhouse

most unfortunate

mosquito bite

~Eavonka Ettinger

winter quilt our patchwork of state laws

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Who would have thought

the telephone would disappear

before the telephone pole?

~Noah Berlatsky

Afternoon of August 15, 2023

empty canteen

the buzzards

circle

~Jenn Ryan-Jauregui

disturbing my slumber friends in the volcano

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

lone golfer

his hole-in-one witnessed by

a squirrel

~John J. Dunphy

Thoughts on Art

Everyone likes to share theirs

with the world.

How it's not like it used to be,

how most of it isn't real,

how it's all mainstream now,

and nobody even knows

what any of it means.

But I'd prefer to be making art

instead of just talking about it.

~Gabriel Bates

drought the stream never reaches my soul

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

for the always was and always will be   press 1

 

for faces seen in the cassia tree   press 2

for baby-lip burbling   press 3

for transcendental walks around the block   press 4

for those who let well enough alone   press 5

for the epiphanies in an ordinary day   press 6

for decisive encounters with the fabric of destiny   press 7

for grandmom's repetitious wisdom   press 8

for placing yourself in the custody of a dream   press 9

to speak to a customer service representative   don't press your luck

~Patrick Sweeney