Morning of March 17, 2025

 

The Embrace

~Jean-Paul Moyer

AI prompts

unlearning how to

think for myself

~Kevin Browne

airport layover

no flights to

an ascetic future

~Kevin Browne

do you see what I see

is the first

question

~Patrick Sweeney

Picasso’s horse

a blast of Chicago wind

through my ribs

~Randy Brooks

food pantry shelves

most of us past

our expiration dates

~Randy Brooks

the promise of spring

I gather myself

into a bouquet

~Anne Fox

 

file this —

what if everyone said

they did nothing all week

~dan smith

conversation the rain brings up worms

~Kevin Browne

the dead always want to tag along

~Patrick Sweeney

PTSD 1

 

slapping

a

child

then

telling

him

not

to

cry.

~Matt Borczon

PTSD 2

 

the

dead

deer

in

the

road

has

the

face

of

my

daughter.

~Matt Borczon

PTSD 3

 

three

days

after

that

nightmare

there

is

still

blood

under

her

nails.

~Matt Borczon

PTSD 4

 

still

washing

blood

out

of

her

hair

ten

years

later.

 
~Matt Borczon

no typo-

unlawful orders

Musk be disobeyed

~dan smith

spinning the globe

convinced i will find

something better

~Stephanie Zepherelli

your ratty sneakers

hanging out in the garage

as if you're still here

~Jennifer Gurney

I procrastinate

with the desire for nothing

clock ticking

~Francoise Maurice

choosing colors

more carefully now

last canvas


~Stephanie Zepherelli

Morning of March 14, 2025

 

 

The hours I spend

reading your poems, zen masters,

burn with sacred fire.

~Morley Cacoethes

sending regrets

The Thinker

having second thoughts

~Barrie Levine

bird flies up halving the sky

~Tejendra Sherchan

x-ray films all the bones outlasting me

~Barrie Levine

mistook the poem for periodontal machine

~Noah Berlatsky

day moon somewhere i become someone

~Vijay Prasad

fate lines rechecking my apotelesm

~Arvinder Kaur

twilight in the battlefield wind’s dirge

~Arvinder Kaur

now empty the condemned convict's cell

~John J. Dunphy

toy shovels

foretell the sand

children at play


~Elliot Diamond

high-wind warning

the earthworm's parachute

full of finch feathers

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

Farm Fresh

Locking eyes

with the void,

I become nothing;

though, today,

I am a tuber,

ripped as I was

from solid ground,

that you can,

if you wish,

imagine happy.

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

vernal equinox

I take my coffee with

half and half

~John J. Dunphy

being alone…

plaintive drip drip of the

dehumidifier

~David Cox

Gurgles of melting

snow and dead leaves from the church

where we shadows lurk.


~Morley Cacoethes

how slow

the blooming of a peace lily

bedroom argument

~Arvinder Kaur

evolutionary theory

chronic illness

i embrace

my adaptations

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

 

 

 

 

Heterodox Haiku: Open for theme of roots

Reading thru March. Send up to 10 photo haiku/haiga or tanka art exploring theme of roots (figuratively, literally, loosely or closely). Ideally rectangular (not square) art, as we will be full paging these in 5x8 sizing. Appreciated if you have photos available separate from words, as will be eventually titling selections all w/same font and style for consistency! Email: thesmokingshow@yahoo.com.