Afternoon of December 10, 2024

 

 

Jottings

i thought i was ee cummings

until i found the shift key on the keyboard.

NOW EVERYTHING I WRITE IS A CAPITAL OFFENCE.

I was sentenced to have my serifs cut off.

~Tony Dawson

come here

listen to me closely

that's not what I said

and you know it

~John Masterson

Man vs. Nature      

unhabitable surrounds

overcome by nature

strangling the evil

found in those walls

~Joanne Macias

folding

unfolding

seeking peace

~Jennifer Gurney

no (mis)givings

this holiday season

the nuts all sugar-coated

~Bonnie J. Scherer

In a bind

the snake wraps itself

tighter and tighter around

hoping you give in

yet you now realised some

of those snakes look like people

~Joanne Macias

Bangladesh 2025 and..

The stream..

Knee deep water...

The suffocation has to cross the terror...

Hurting ligament..

Goes far the lighthouse...

No way to escape.

~Partha Sarkar

war crime

teams of lawyers find

better terms for it

~John Hawkhead

burning books

a crowd slowly circles

the edge of darkness

~John Hawkhead

arriving

in retro style

trusting

the technology

of silver foil

~Mark Gilbert

I am 15% done

with this poem.

That means

I will finish this poem

 

never.

I will never finish this poem.

~Noah Berlatsky

moon viewing

please,

no poetry

~Patrick Sweeney

twelfth month: an abbreviated list of creatures that sing

~Patrick Sweeney

he later learned the origin of the dunce cap he wore

~Patrick Sweeney

he felt an invasion of privacy whenever an actor broke the fourth wall

~Patrick Sweeney

spending an inordinate amount of time correcting movie subtitles

~Patrick Sweeney

a little gristle to chew in the mystical life

~Patrick Sweeney

becoming self-aware the algorithm quantifies emotion

~Mark Gilbert

 

 

 

Afternoon of December 8, 2024

Nobody Knocks



Nobody knocks.

New neighbor—

she didn’t know.

~Carla Schwartz

I do not want

your raw and honest poetry.

 

I want your poetry

overcooked and rubbery

and filled with lies.

~Noah Berlatsky

family plot

a semblance

of group therapy

~Carla Schwartz

hot water—

we are now entering

the mesopelagic zone

~dan smith

saying yes

to her imaginary friend...

summer's end

~Cezar Ciobîcă

Olympic games

a flea jumps off

my cat's fur

~Cezar Ciobîcă

the ghosts

that still haunt us

hunter's moon

~Cezar Ciobîcă

cat’s

whereabouts

a mystery

~Tejendra Sherchan

my vet tells me it’s time

~John J. Dunphy

too soon i arrive at a character

~Vijay Prasad

birdsong in my brainstem passes the Turing test

~D.W. Baker

When riding

Don’t look in

The rat king’s eyes

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

Nothingness

Of a vast night sky

Yet it’s everything

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

Our Nominations for The Red Moon Anthology

(November)

yielding to the futility of helping an autumn fly escape

~Patrick Sweeney

(October)

our squares

in different circles

mockingbirds

~Joshua St. Claire

(September)

one minute from yesterday  a lonely pronoun

~Vijay Prasad

(August)

Earth again at last


herds of bison keep


radio silence

~David C. Kopaska-Merkel

(July)

IVF clinic —

this feeling

of not being enough

~Debarati Sen

(June)

contemplate the moon

but don't let the neighbors see you

taking notes

~Patrick Sweeney

(May)

unfazed

the moon has so little

left to say

~Kelly Moyer

Best of luck to these talented nominees!

Evening of December 3, 2024

 

Fractals

I am a flower.

Bent beneath the sky, I thirst!

I am also rain.

~Silvatiicus Riddle

I am impressed at your vast and calculated indifference.

~Noah Berlatsky

rice pudding because it comes with the meal

~Patrick Sweeney

wealth management

investing in sea-monkeys

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

From now on I will eat only pie.

~Noah Berlatsky

barbed wire the morning glory entwines and blooms over

~Tejendra Sherchan

the palm reader's lucky guess

~Patrick Sweeney

Are you just going to leave that there?

~Noah Berlatsky

sometimes life is

the runny part of an

undercooked fried egg

~Jennifer Gurney

reconciliation

we seek a deeper meaning

as the moon shadow

crosses

the sun

~Wanda Amos

morning brew...

thoughts sifting

through coffee grains

~Katherine E Winnick

autumn deepens

the color

of a leaf

~Madeleine Kavanagh

sunset

a noble wine

in the grape stomper's purple feet

~Robert Witmer

in spite of

closing arguments

opening night

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

passing the window

again and again

goldfish

~Robert Witmer

Haiku

a box full

of nothing

~M. R. Pelletier