Afternoon of July 13, 2024

first senryu

a flea lands between

fragment & phrase

~Cezar Ciobica

I wanted my legs

to take me somewhere else.

But the cat sat on them.

That has to be good enough.

~Noah Berlatsky

Nepal Idol—

a tailorbird’s monsoon wail

subdues him

~Tejendra Sherchan

polluting our planet assigned gender balloons

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

a bob-weave

for the camera

Nessie

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

safety pins

and stardust

Ziggy, Iggy

Hoagy and Bix

~dan smith

Routine

At birth, when the doctor slapped me,

I yawned, I haven't caught up since

I work night shift. I'm so tired I take a nap

before I go to bed.

When I wake up, the bags under my eyes have bags, have bags...

~Keith Snow

foster care child

her third home

this year

~John J. Dunphy

Echoes of You

Your singing has become my alarm,

karaoke, blasting songs in the shower as I desperately cover my ears.

I would wave hi to your friends, me an old grandma,

trying to be cool.

Your 3 shades of lip gloss, never-matching pairs of socks,

and pink backpack covered in grass can always be spotted around our house,

Leaving a trail like Hansel and Gretel back to your room.

But now I wake up to silence, a spotless room

where nothing covers the carpet, and a dry, empty shower.

Maybe I miss those loud mornings.

~Karen Lee

bamboo thicket

behind the high school

scattered bones

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Blockhead

Pinocchio fell victim

to the wood beetles' lust;

dust spurting from a myriad adits,

he collapsed at his father's door,

but that is not dead, etc; automaton,

wayward robot carved from wood,

he rose again, riddled with scars,

but a real boy at last.

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

cautiously a lizard

crosses the road...

run over frog beside

~Tejendra Sherchan

Overseas

Is there no one who truly cares for me?

I can see the stars all the way from here

Shining just the way I like

I have faith in what I see

I feel your whisper across the sea

Another moment passing by

It’s okay, we’re the best of friends

~Olivia Park

Grass Routes to Victory

tennis match psychic

predicts Wimbledon winner

net prophet

~John H. Dromey

along train route

hidden messages

in spray-painted curves

~Patricia Carragon

AGING WOUNDS

familial

laughter—

elbow

pressure

applied

to aging wounds

~Andrew Buckner

flagpole without a flag

a national anthem without singers

~Fhen M.

a rose is a rose

a house is a house

logic is an interesting subject

~Fhen M.

helpless

an ugly feeling

comfort but no answers

a powerful hug

but brittle future

~Rae Greenwood

This Is Where

This is where an innocent man visited,

stuck with thoughts, considerations, and feelings

This is where many face edges and nails through their skins

Screaming in excruciating pain

This is where one’s item disappears from their car in a minute

This is where one can lose oneself after touching a dollar on the street

This is where red is the color that is seen the most everywhere

This is where many want homes

This is where street food is common

This is where cheering is scarce

~Sean Kim

My superpower

is getting

out of bed

~Nolcha Fox

My Night

Fog patches

Occasional drizzle

Occasional pain

Very poor at times

0330 now rising

Showers

Becoming very rough

or high later

~Ann Smith

a flea crushed at the end of dad's death poem

~Cezar Ciobica

 

Five Fleas swag:

https://www.zazzle.com/store/five_fleas

Afternoon of July 10, 2024

 

Nature’s Artistry – Earth

~Sean Kyung

narcissists

don't do

thoughtful

~Jennifer Gurney

window wash froth

stirring dark clouds

into the murk

~Mark Gilbert

the dance

of Red Capped Manakin—

Moonwalk

~Tejendra Sherchan

I saw Mother Ignacia in the Eight Sphere

among constellations of the Middle Ages

in the liquid-bearing Aquarius

saints & princes drank a cupful of ambrosia

~Fhen M.

sitting in the sun

the shadow of the church

falls on my left

~marc brimble

Chasing Angels

I have been

beyond

the forbidden hours.

Very few go there;

fewer return.

I have been there

more than once.

I do not regret it.

I WILL go back,

again.

~R. Gerry Fabian

each day just kinda swam off

like fish

shiny and funny

and weird looking

one after another

slipping thru my fingers

and escaping

~marc brimble

The Weed

A weed

As tall as me;

Cut it down, it grows back

As tall as before. Unless it

Doesn’t.

~Noah Berlatsky

sliding

into closing arguments

door squeak

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

school photos

back when we knew

so little

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

"today's my birthday"

the panhandler tells me

three days straight

~John J. Dunphy

still

making jam

for you

even after

you're gone

~Jennifer Gurney

Love Language

~Gavin Kim

Afternoon of July 5, 2024

 

Happy Hour

~Kelly Moyer 

Photography available here

I had a chat

with life today

—sorry darling

I’m not always

flowers

~Sharon Ferrante

in the sea

waves of maternal

lineage

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

From the Passing Breeze

from the passing breeze

an epiphany

There is vibrancy in the grass

and a halo, wavering iridescence

summer’s searing heat

The following futures

When sprinting, I look to the kind blue

The passing breeze

a moment of sanctuary

The fading childish spark, I smile wistfully

~Austin Chung

fewer clouds today

something in the air has changed

single blade of grass

~Charles A. Perrone

that's where her cat scratched a death poem in the carpet

~Patrick Sweeney

his thoughts drown out the heartbeat in my pillow

~Sharon Ferrante

A Disk Around the Sun

Whichever you choose, the route is equally rewarding

everyone was smiling or laughing

Are we on the cusp of a genuine breakthrough?

Is it a battle for recognition?

This dorm was once a madhouse

But that life was too short

Raided and now cornered

I’m still a believer but I don’t know why

Even when you want to die

~Vincent Bae

I finished eating my daily bread

~Patrick Sweeney

give us each day our daily dread

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

small slights on a speck of dust

~Patrick Sweeney

kites so high clouds give way

~James Penha

on the verge of saying hi

the graceful way she shooed a bee

~Patrick Sweeney

alive and then some

emerging from

the opened box

Schrödinger’s cat

with kittens

~John J. Dunphy

waking to a quiet house

the white noise

of grief

~Jennifer Gurney

wildfires about happiness

It is no accident that humans can see light

Grief is universal

Swaths of smoke darkened skies

Wildfires that burn near communities

can become dangerous

and even deadly

if they grow out of control

Innocence is so very fragile and fleeting

We tell ourselves a lot of stories about happiness

As children, we used to laugh hundreds of times a day

~Regina Kim

kitchen sink

our dirty dishes washed

in moonlight

~John J. Dunphy

occasionally I defer to what actually happened

~Patrick Sweeney

she's heard enough about my neurons stretching to the moon and back

~Patrick Sweeney

 

 

Lost and Found

~Yoon Park

 

Caged In

~Yoon Park