Afternoon of January 7, 2024

straight-arming the dashboard: a life spent bracing for impact

~Patrick Sweeney

paper snowflakes without knowing why climate change

~John Pappas

eyes without cataracts;

naked,

afraid,

vulnerable,

ugly

face without glasses.

~Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

a poem

with a mind of its own

digital citizen

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

the crowds now appear / loudly clamoring to see / all of my etchings

~Charles A. Perrone

Grief Is a Mother

She flips me upside down

and slaps me on the rump

until I stop breathing

and start crying.

~Nolcha Fox

bombs away in a manger

~John Pappas

the fifth finger on my hand

pretends to be torn off

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

postcolonial firing the western canon

~John Pappas

in deep waters: the blue whale of faith

~Patrick Sweeney

from dawn to dusk sunflower mechanics

~John Pappas

cat cute cut out ou oh o zero

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

I used to write long letters with a knife-sharpened pencil

~Patrick Sweeney

late fall—

a plastic parachutist

in the rain gutter

~John Pappas

by falling down

I see the wildflowers

much better

~Luke Levi

homecoming

under her collarbone

diving swallows

~John Pappas

winter night

the taste of no

strawberries

~John Pappas

The world’s best dental floss —

your hair.

~Oliver Kleyer

another growl

my right ear pressed against

the dentist's stomach

~John J. Dunphy

new year’s day

fresh strings on

an old guitar

~John Pappas

distant thunder

he orders more

toe tags

~John Pappas

Somebody’s reading

Night Train to Lisbon on the

morning bus to Rendsburg.

~Oliver Kleyer

that part of himself always pivoting as if to make a break for it

~Patrick Sweeney

new moon the clickclickclick of the delete key

~John Pappas

the constant intrusions of the ordinary

~Patrick Sweeney

Morning of January 5, 2024

 

the aging streetwalker's orthopedic shoes

~John J. Dunphy

his dry wit

I interview

a wine critic

~John J. Dunphy

on rainy nights

even the buddha snores

~Jay Passer

the refrigerator doesn't care

what I think

~Jay Passer

a murmuration of starlings

violating the Second Law of Thermodynamics

power lines

~Joshua St. Claire

candlelight

how tenderly he caresses

his iPhone

~Joshua St. Claire

paying a dime

for penny candy

cost of living adjustment

~Joshua St. Claire

Brand Name Cereal

now with more…

                              marketing

~Joshua St. Claire

the light of dead stars

                                       grocery store tabloids

~Joshua St. Claire

the Pierian Spring overflows as our Alps melt

you can't scuba dive

in the desert too many

heads in the sand

~dan smith

burnt rice —

the sticky remains

of our marriage

~Debarati Sen

fading colours

of betta fish –

mom turns sixty

~Debarati Sen

the new year dawns

before the sun rises—

Damn-cat-knocks-phone-off-bedside-table-at-four-am

~Jennifer Gurney

Why think of drowning?

A cricket on a floating branch

sings, just sings.

~Fhen M.

black-eyed peas the cornbread crumbles

~Jenn Ryan-Jauregui

Afternoon of December 31, 2023

monarch this too shall pass

~Kerry J Heckman

I used to look forward to the new year.

~Noah Berlatsky

crows gather for a murder could it be yours

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

like the chipped figurine a little broken

~Kerry J Heckman

firing up his ash bucket list

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

maybe it’s a sign…

the ladybug’s

seven spots

~Kerry J Heckman

the bard warned us

about the trickery

of such fellows

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

my inner sky

mostly sunny or

partly cloudy

~Kerry J Heckman

anniversary

he tells me he hates

my meatloaf

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Twelfth Night kings' cake

I bite into

the baby Jesus

~John J. Dunphy

company

for Christmas

stray cats

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

prison math

 

i was 17

& you were 28

~Tiffany Elise