Afternoon of October 28, 2023

I’ve read and studied

but still I cannot fathom

how a zipper works

~James Penha

the living dead

offer me leftovers

—a middle finger

all I wanted

was a Kit Kat

~Sharon Ferrante

If the Day Was a Zebra

A zebra day is no-frills simple, choices are black and white, no gray. Boundaries are defined. I

start here. You start there. I’m always a vegetarian on a zebra day. There is no latest diet fad. I

know my herd, I know where I belong on a zebra day. And mine know me. I know my enemies

on a zebra day. I know I can run or fight. I don’t need to ask my therapist what to do. I don’t

need therapy. I am what you see. Take it or leave it.

~Nolcha Fox

adrift down the stream of consciousness without a paddle

~Mark Meyer

between two slices of rye death poem

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

the bloody truth I cut myself on Occam's razor

~Mark Meyer

one footprint by the shallow grave

~Elliot Diamond

critique of pure reason a fruitful dialectic with a fruit fly

~Mark Meyer

Fleas in the morning lie dormant – rouse in afternoon autumn sun

~Julie A. Dickson

nothingness for dummies two-hundred-six pages of nada

~Mark Meyer

bargain basement clearance a mixed bag of overused emotions

~Mark Meyer

divorce final

I add more pineapple

to the pizza

~Sharon Ferrante

A Götterdämmerung Vibe

 

“Look at those people. Hammering in the windows,

scaling the walls of the Capitol.”

“And that noose! The one meant for Pence.”

“The dude hanging from a balcony in the Senate chamber.”

“The guy with the painted face and horned helmet.”

“All egged on by the sore loser. Amazing.”

“Twilight of the gods.”

“Wagner would have killed for this story.

And by ‘Wagner’ I mean the Russian mercenaries.”

~Charles Rammelkamp

deadly nightshade

I water everything

beyond the gate

even poison

has a whisper

when it drips

~Sharon Ferrante

Outsider Art

I am a found object,

claimed at the roadside

on your journey

toward the afterlife.

What shall we create

of such good fortune

but a world

where our lonesome,

tethered souls

can, at last, be free?

~Kelly Moyer

Morning of October 23, 2023

Shortest Childhood Poem Ever Written

 

I have

nothing to say

about my childhood,

 

except I am glad

it is over, and

 

I never need

to experience it

again.

~Leah Mueller

what lies

in the human heart—

silent truth

~Jennifer Gurney

Apocalypse Love Quatrain

 

Let the continents implode

around us, we’ll die with

our hands on the Insta-Pot

making black beans for dinner.

~Leah Mueller

my favorite clothes—

the ones that

once held you

~Jennifer Gurney

overcoming our differences how many syllables in aluminum

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

old stump

crumbling to dirt

some mornings I feel like you

(this is one of those days)

~Steve Van Allen

dream currents

floating downstream in my dream the water pulls my head I feel the currents in my hair and I

don’t resist I let it pull me backwards away from the land away from my anchor my hands

stretched behind me the currents tug on my arms and I don’t know what direction I am going

it’s dusk and the air has no temperature I am weightless like the air it knows where I need to be

and I trust it to take me there I forget about everything and allow myself to let go forever

~Leah Mueller

Here Comes the Flood

the river outside

rises out of my control

 

so you rise, too,

and overtake

another innocent trailer park

somewhere else

~Laura Grant

Evening of October 21, 2023

warplanes roar —

between the gap

the buzz of escape

~Chittaluri Satyanarayana

The Social Contract Theory of Haunting

Haunt my other mood, Goodness.

Haunt the dark side of the pool, Moon.

Tonight ghosts desire silence played in loops,

fireflies patch a pale pigment together

midst the sink of moonlight.

Haunt my melancholy, Coffee beans, albeit

I possess no power to roast, grind or brew.

~Kushal Poddar

tapped for lines

 

i do not belong

to a recognizable

 

religious group

 

yet strongly believe

confession is important

 

when recommending a good beer.

~Geoffrey Aitken

drowning sorrow

hazelnut

in empty glass

~Richard Bailly

September 23, 2022

Campaign season:

the candidates seemed smart enough for office,

though not intelligent enough to have a real job

~Michael Ceraolo

(from a series titled September Scenes)

September 15, 2022

Out of Order:

the bureaucrat responded to the update

before he responded to the original email

~Michael Ceraolo

(from a series titled September Scenes)

compost pile

for mental health

the library

~Richard Bailly