Afternoon of January 3, 2025

it's not the New Year until someone starts talking about the end of the world

~Patrick Sweeney

Clue Map

maiden voyage of a monarch chrysalis

flagship's horn echoing

across the bay

maiden voyage of a monarch chrysalis

                                    childhood dreams

                                    coming alive

maiden voyage of a monarch chrysalis

                                                                    one more sign

                                                                    to rebuild my faith

~Roman Lyakhovetsky

tranquil clouds passing

in my heart

a doubt

~Noah Berlatsky

just me and the wind

the constant chime

of nevermore

~Joanna Ashwell

dirty snow

& the complications

of Spider Solitaire

~Patrick Sweeney

discard old skin

emerge from chrysalis

perpetual change

~Olinda Ninolakis

village fair

a doll's dress

catches briar

~Debarati Sen

in my own analog universe

straight through

Abbey Road

~Patrick Sweeney

in the city

a deserted house

gripping nostalgia

~Tejendra Sherchan

bro.ken, vi.vid dreams

 

transparent glue

belongs to you

 

seamless repair

mine to declare

~Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

fairy tale

I eat the wolf

that ate grandma

~M. R. Pelletier

housekeeping carts

long-term tenants air out

at the curb

~M. R. Pelletier

headphones

I help a loudmouth mind

his own business

~M. R. Pelletier

civilization

a well paved road

to self-destruction

~M. R. Pelletier

this mish-mash life I like to call eclectic

~dan smith

if he stubs his toe today, he'll be checking for gangrene in the morning

~Patrick Sweeney

 

 

will there be a body politic when our brains/minds get uploaded

~dan smith

Morning of January 2, 2025

inner octopus

just inked

me out

~Lys Browne

New Year's Day

I wake up facing

my TV

~John J. Dunphy

evening walk

letting go

of the prognosis

~Padma Rajeswari Tata

A hospital like nightqueen

Gets injured milky air by busy drilling.

No green janitor at the playground.

Pants Room No. 3 of the lungs.

Yet is fearless the lamb.

Yonder a hospital like nightqueen

With a nominal green ticket.

~Partha Sarkar

between yes and no she smiles creases

~Vijay Prasad

cloud peaks imposter syndrome

~Joshua St. Claire

strangling the willow tree devil's hair

~Tejendra Sherchan

magnetic monopoles

Wood’s cycad

in cone again

~Joshua St. Claire

winter night garden

where plants and dreams

hibernate

~Jennifer Gurney

prevailing winds

an editor and I exchange

form letters

~Joshua St. Claire

Thank You

A meaningless

 

after-mumble,

 

word chunks

crumble like

feta pieces

falling out

of your mouth.

~Keith Snow

winter night

all my dreams

frozen in place

~Jennifer Gurney

amazing

how a life can change

one email

~Jennifer Gurney

ANOTHER YEAR


Another year of hesitant steps

taken down winding paths to

hazy landscapes, shadowy vistas

colored in grays and darkened mists,

brushed by breezes of indecision,

forced broken strides forward

into an uncertain future.

~Ruth Van Alstine

December 31

suddenly my lap cat's purring

spans two years

~John J. Dunphy

half moon

the cat catching the mouse

I poisoned

~Joshua St. Claire

my cat

heavy on my feet

grounding me

~Jennifer Gurney

 

 

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