Afternoon of September 25, 2022

Basho's frog cut apart in English class

~petro c.k.

ink-splattered roughnecks

one-legged poets

at crane school

~Richard Magahiz

two sand fleas

hop onto my beach towel . .

itchy and scratchy

~Karen Harvey

in ancient Egypt

fleas were worshiped

(not really)

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Boop!

I booped

a Boops boops

(B. boops)

Boop boop!

The 

Boops boops

booped 

back

~petro c.k.

the monkey climbs

the mulberry tree

pop goes the purple


~Robert Witmer

Nitty Nora

the scalp explorer ...

our school nurse


~Karen Harvey

dental chair

all the answers

I want to give

~Daipayan Nair

Morning of September 23, 2022

full disclosure

what resides beneath

the lampshade

~Kelly Moyer

person, ghost, light

who is the common ancestor

~Kyle Hemmings

cancun honeymoon

they become savants

of selfies

~Kyle Hemmings

demolishing sand castles, day's order

~Mircea Moldovan

a hole in the prairie dog moon

~Robert Witmer

sawdust protected our torsos

from the treacherous sun with its tusks

remember, dearest,

please:

you eyes were actual aquamarines;

poetry knows the secrets bumblebees conceal

~Richard Magahiz

alcohol swab

I narrate

my hobbies

~Daipayan Nair

egosurfing

not long before

the ship sinks

~Daya Bhat

fast rap

grandma’s lullaby

gets a makeover

~Daya Bhat

mosquito

I clap

to kill

~Daipayan Nair

swatter

fly’s short lifespan

even shorter

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

my blood the horsefly laps it up

~Mark Gilbert

Afternoon of September 21, 2022

you were meant

to sing and dance and love— 

you fools

~Herb Tate

Paul Newman Looks for a Job

Behind the eight ball,

queuing for a job,

hairdresser for the bald,

the cranially compromised,

gleaming in the fluorescent light,

a hustler with blue eyes

whistles Dixie to a waitress

with purple peepers,

while George C. Scott

sends goslings to the front.

~Robert Witmer

long story short

those guys did have

a vengeful god

~Richard Magahiz

      fibbing ‘bout clean sheets

haven’t washed ‘em never will

      line of succession

~Jerome Berglund

mountain cairn

the quest for validation

of a name

~Keith Evetts

existential crisis

you have

one new notification

~Kelly Moyer

the new fascism of the brain

taking control of my voice 

until I am only an echo

~Kyle Hemmings