Morning of October 31, 2025

pumpkins —

the world of slyboots

amidst darkness

~Maria Cristina Pulvirenti

blue hour moon . . .

the ghost of you dancing

in the hallway

~Veronika Zora Novak

between

jade peaks . . .

a dragon's eye

~Veronika Zora Novak

playground mayhem everything we seesaw

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

counting candy

at the kitchen table—

hallotweens


~Julie Bloss Kelsey

moving day—

the rice cooker 

leaves for college

~Julie Bloss Kelsey

Suddenly

Suddenly all strangers seem to be known to me.

~Partha Sarkar

A human face

A human face tells different fairy tales without conclusion.

~Partha Sarkar

link death

number one cause

is

~Noah Berlatsky

a flower is only friends with its own roots

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

gazing at scenic mountain views a bear

~Tejendra Sherchan

indeterminate numbers

and empty bellies

~Patrick Sweeney

freed from the constraints of reason

inviting daily

hybrid disasters
 

~Patrick Sweeney

all day, what's wrong with the country

all night, what's wrong with me

~Patrick Sweeney

he hoped there would be ravens in the tall grasses of heaven

~Patrick Sweeney

 

 

Trick or Treat

I fear

the worst

~Helen Buckingham

Afternoon of October 29, 2025

 

Work Shirt

~dan smith

daylight savings not FDIC insured may lose value

~Cynthia Anderson

dry bones a tumbleweed at the door

~Cynthia Anderson

proving I’m not a bot to a bot

~Mark Gilbert

an insistent pleading just to see what is already plain to see

~Mark Gilbert

the crackle of needle stuck in the groove

~Mark Gilbert

raid

man strikes

an ICE agent

with his

white cane

~John J. Dunphy

back to standard time

to reschedule the rooster

and even the sheep


~Oscar Luparia

electrical blackout

not a big deal

at the Halloween party


~Oscar Luparia

pumpkin yarn

the eyes aglow

with mischief

~Joanna Ashwell

this urge

to call you again . . .

thawing water pipes

~Gordon Gearhart

passing through

the shrunken head exhibit

dead snapdragons

~Gordon Gearhart

barren shelves

at the food pantry

hunger moon

~Gordon Gearhart

this reluctance to be photographed on the cell phone Luna

~Pegah Rahmati Nezhad

a suffering rooted in innocence OCD

~Pegah Rahmati Nezhad

another year without you november rain


~Mona Bedi

drops of rain on bent wires this grief


~Mona Bedi

there will be

goodbyes to you

the rest of my life

~Jennifer Gurney

more pieces of the puzzle

missing every day

mom’s dementia

~Belinda Behne

across the world

a sign of respect

frogs

~Jennifer Gurney

scratched and bleeding

~dan smith