Afternoon of September 7, 2024

Critique

I don’t think you should end a poem with

“My life has changed.”

~Noah Berlatsky

You don’t think about what you say.

I don’t say what I think.

The perfect marriage.

~Nolcha Fox

purple flowers

all over a pine forest

oblivious wife

~Tejendra Sherchan

the dead are still here

plants overwatered, underwatered, forgotten

~Steve Van Allen

Give light, Sun

What to do? How to walk steadily?

Do not know the blunt skeletons

And very often get morbid.

I come across them and get sad

But I do not put forward my hand

Rather ask the Sun to come out of the clouds

And give them light so that

They can stand erect and walk.

~Partha Sarkar

The great struggle of writing

is to see the truth

in your bank account.

~Noah Berlatsky

The Net Equivalent

of standing

in the kitchen

wondering why

u walked

in there

is going to Google

but forgetting

what you were

planning to search for

~Keith Snow

falling in love with the transplant surgeon

she whispers, "take my hand"

~Morgan Ellington

night duty

the hushed whisper

from behind

~Bidyut Prabha Gantayat

stuck in traffic

a billboard promises

relief

~Nalini Shetty

autocorrect

my opinion reshaped

without consent

~Nalini Shetty

two-factor authentication

proving

I still exist

~Nalini Shetty

dystopian dreams—

the future

they warned us about

~Nalini Shetty

mono no aware

new moon

or noon awe

no more now

~Scott F. Parker

university

yes

uni

verse

i yes

visit

yes

~Scott F. Parker

unsolicited advice to self

pay attention

to what you're paying attention

to

~Scott F. Parker

 

Buy our merch:

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

Morning of September 3, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s in the Bones

~Kelly Moyer

Photos available here

do not see me…

I am the face

of undecided

I have not picked

my story

—yet

~Sharon Ferrante

the poetry

of the lake

each breath

strikes the shore

alone

i paint

on empty rice paper

kilroy on a wall

feeling poetic

i slide into a chair

and start snoring

~Mike Rehling

collateral damage a spirit snake swallows its tail

~John Hawkhead

war footing the final bill

~John Hawkhead

crunch time cicadas taste like shrimp

~Sharon Ferrante

24 hour rolling news

I teach myself to see

things that aren’t there

~John Hawkhead

 

types of North Woods trees: deciduous, conifer, Big Foot

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

What I've learned

Summer flies are assholes

Fighting in the air

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

Labor Day

our union local president

goes into labor

~John J. Dunphy

 

only child

I am

the sibling

of myself

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

 

causation/correlation

i flip a coin

in the name of science

~Mike Rehling

I’ve decided

tonight

shall be simple

I’ll visit

the ocean

scream at it

~Sharon Ferrante