Evening of October 16, 2024


 

atop the altar

a kitten

who knew better

~Kelly Moyer



Don’t go away

Under sunlit leaves

Coffee IV

~Sarah Mahina Calvello




Open doors

A chance to redo this

Ghost of what was

~Sarah Mahina Calvello




signs of spoilage

she longs

for a dignified death

~Kelly Moyer




autumn leaves

we shuffle through piles

of regret

~Kelly Moyer




tucked in for the night

the body

that betrayed her

~Kelly Moyer




chronic illness

if only this life, too,

were fleeting

~Kelly Moyer




RIP Tide


The moon is clutching

the oyster’s pearls,

for she has no family

of her own, while

the rest of us, orphans

all, remain unfazed,

traversing the pitch

by our sorcery alone.

~Kelly Moyer




Come back, Woolly Mammoth


Woolly Mammoth,

If you feel my pulse,

I will remain warm.


Come back Woolly Mammoth,

No warmth in the ambulance

Only transport for the innocent.


Come back, if you can,

Along with Dinosaurs,

Following the sad last tune of extinct glaciers.

Some precocious are trying to bring you back

To bring chaos in the chaotic miasma.

~Partha Sarkar




midnight mass –

smell of mothballs

from the coats

~Daniela Misso




seated in a bed of hydrangeas my sanity

~Katherine E Winnick




crescent moon

a sickle carving the night

for a day

~Tejendra Sherchan




on the road of maybe dawn light

~Arvinder Kaur




the how of letting go waterfall

~Arvinder Kaur




on geometrical patterns your absence wrinkles

~Arvinder Kaur

 

 




live online

the randomness

of egos

~words & image Wanda Amos


Morning of October 12, 2024


Ick

a

bod

psalm

o

dissed

~dan smith




last night

the moon was full

the neighbor’s dogs

howled a bit

any werewolves

were silent

~Tom Blessing




student lunches

even i don’t know what

the gray brown mush

inside the wrap is

but I ate it

and still don’t know

~Tom Blessing




no guns dream

no shooters

nothing to see

~Mark Gilbert




national security

we have never had this

conversation

~Mark Gilbert




yeah not so much

a social construct

algal bloom

~Mark Gilbert




playing an imposter

maintaining

that separation

~Mark Gilbert




one-hundred-trillion

neutrinos per second

the porosity of "I"

~M. R. Pelletier




dawn again

1.6 million miles

nearer the sun

~M. R. Pelletier




rhythmic blinking

of internet router signals

the conversing planets

~Tejendra Sherchan




a girl snaps

in the crowded bus

summer’s heat

~Tejendra Sherchan




man-made idol

dripping water —

clogged toilet drainage

~Tuyet Van Do




persnickety

bane of my existence

HOA

~Jennifer Gurney

 

 

 

Halloween candy

once the bag is opened

it’s only one serving…

~Jennifer Gurney




one more month

of political ads

as if anyone is undecided…

~Jennifer Gurney




golden hour—

the last of the summer figs

oozing

~B. L. Bruce




Dining Diva


putting on airs

and a lobster bib

tuna fish sandwich

~John H. Dromey




Answer Awaited with Bated Breath


wormholes are portals

do they lead to outer space

or a fishing trip

~John H. Dromey




crumpled receipts the city’s heartbeat on pause

~C.X. Turner




her body releases its temporary gods part by part

~Vijay Prasad




Vacuum gives birth to a mother

~Partha Sarkar




a smudge in mascara time rewrites itself

~C.X. Turner




October

I wear my mask

24/7

~Jennifer Gurney

 

 


 

Evening of October 9, 2024

 


Skin off—hundreds of bones.

Skin on—millions of faces.

~Carol-Versannie




Teach a kangaroo rat to swim

As asking you to love me

Oh darling, a moth would rather die in fire

~Carol-Versannie




red hood down

she is running

with the pack

~Melissa Dennison




liberated

he lets his inner werewolf

run free

~Melissa Dennison




frozen in terror

eight legs dangling

just above her bed

~Melissa Dennison




soothed by Renoir and a mango slushy

~Patrick Sweeney




the very corner where Kafka bowed to the blind man

~Patrick Sweeney




messing with her ETA, the distances to the outer planets

~Patrick Sweeney




hornet washing her skinny feet in the dew

~Patrick Sweeney




waiting for a candidate to hold up a lotus flower

~Patrick Sweeney




on the path, it's a leaf not a visitor

~Patrick Sweeney




Singularity Delayed


confidence builder

a robot with training wheels

not our equal yet

~John H. Dromey




A STILL IS  STILL

A STILL       IF IT

REMAINS STILL

IN   THE   STILL

OF  THE NIGHT

~Charles A. Perrone




mother tongue interference

how i fit

nowhere

~Jahnavi Gogoi




moving on

her initials on

his arm

~Jahnavi Gogoi




midnight cravings

i unblock a forbidden

number

~Jahnavi Gogoi




motion and direction imposed upon a wanderer

~Vijay Prasad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Fleas Merch