Afternoon of December 31, 2024

 

a script of my soul’s story half wakefulness

~Arvinder Kaur

a thousand words

a picture

says

a thousand words,

so does

your silence.

~linda m. crate

simplicity

complexity;

poetry

is wishy-

washy

~Noah Berlatsky

on the grill

hickory-smoked

robot bones

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

when you're drowning

high functioning

depression

means getting ignored

when you're drowning

because they say you

know how to swim.

~linda m. crate

the hit list

made us wonder who

had been a target,

and who hadn't been;

the school wouldn't say—

just expelled him

for it.

~linda m. crate

gone with the geese the initial of your name

~Arvinder Kaur

my worries break the surface ice crusted snow

~Morag Elizabeth Humble

funeral we speak in flowers

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

empty bin unfolding of my loud thoughts

~Arvinder Kaur

winter dusk a little girl’s brightest smile

~Tejendra Sherchan

beauty

the moon

is beautiful in

all of her phases,

so am i.

~linda m. crate

winter rains

the scent of wet dog

on my couch

~Morag Elizabeth Humble

hibernation —

his life has the merit

on earth

~Maria Cristina Pulvirenti

siren eyes

i mistook the sirens in

your eyes for

mermaids,

until they tried

drowning me.

~linda m. crate

night of celebration —

with a cheeky smile the elf

fades in air

~Maria Cristina Pulvirenti

 

Morning of December 30, 2024

 

getting squashed

with no second thought

cockroach's destiny

~Tejendra Sherchan

birthdays

some of us are over the hill

others under

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Today I need

The whole cup

Of coffee

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

longing for

my last

first kiss

~Jennifer Gurney

I know I told you

one life. Not eternity.

I was so young then.

~H. May

intertwining chapters

unexpected plot twist

in the end

~Jennifer Gurney

turn of events

our ship returns

to port

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Time

Is kryptonite

These days

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

waiting room mirror

unhealthy faces

stare back

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

 

Afternoon of December 29, 2024

 

thinking about what

I’m not thinking about

knowing I don’t know

~John Paul Caponigro

sea smoke

everything I needed to know

about 'being and nothingness'

~Patrick Sweeney

nothing’s nothing

~John Paul Caponigro

dreaming

not dreaming

not knowing

the difference

~John Paul Caponigro

Standing before

the art museum, I know

I should have checked the hours.

~Noah Berlatsky

forgetting

what I was worried about

I try not to worry

~John Paul Caponigro

basil pesto

looks like baby poop

I’m certain

pesto tastes better

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

when they began talking about speckle-patterns

and granular structures

I moved my chair closer to the fire

~Patrick Sweeney

mysterious time horizon of the last yellow leaf

~Patrick Sweeney

all day long he doesn't have an office window

~Patrick Sweeney

fire child of the sun

~Tejendra Sherchan

ramp closure on the way to a place I didn't want to go

~Patrick Sweeney

speed reading the book of my life

~John Paul Caponigro

the severe mathematics of a worrywart

~Patrick Sweeney

resilience…

a helix goes over my toe

and stops

~Maya Daneva

writing a birthday card

for myself…

psychologist’s waiting room

~Maya Daneva

snow thunder

half-hour spent on a semi-colon

I didn't need

~Patrick Sweeney

Unfolding

Continents shift

at the same speed

my fingernails grow;

Earth’s not swelling larger,

always turning outward, I

must be folding inward, too;

some things emerge others inter;

one crack’s loss is another’s gain;

the new becomes the old becomes the new.

~John Paul Caponigro

 

 (Hurry!)