Evening of December 28, 2022


words leave poetree

~Robert Witmer



night flight—

the exhaust

of a jet engine

~Andrew Markowski



a roll of the dice

one by one

the bones come to rest

~Robert Witmer



cheap motel—

the vending machine

eats my money

~Andrew Markowski



awaiting biopsy results—

a spider

enters the waiting room

~Ram Chandran



shades of dusk

a murder of crows

deepen my solitude

~Neena Singh



Zazen…

on my knees

I cross myself

~Linda L Ludwig



a poet

milks his words

the muse mooed

~Robert Witmer



mu

the peace of just being

a heifer on a hill

~Robert Witmer



The Hall


In the hall was the last time I saw him.

He was a sorry sight.

And I didn’t want him giving anyone a fright.



In the house he had given joy for years.

But the sight of him now would only produce floods of tears.

There he lay with no tail or ears.



Farewell my stuffed friend.

Our time has finally come to an end.

The grandchildren have finally done you in.

And the only place for you now is in the bin.

~Lorna Smart Wordcrafter



Orion nebula

the space between

the stars and me

~Françoise Maurice



after the supernova

making sandcastles

out of stardust

~Eavonka Ettinger



discarded gift bags, once full, lay empty now.

~Julie A. Dickson



decorations

stolen from the front yard

Christmas spirits

~Eavonka Ettinger

Evening of December 27, 2022


Minus ten degrees outside, inside I ice a fractured wrist.


~Nolcha Fox



the full moon casts a blue color on a broken heart

~Nani Mariani



Creepy baby, crawl


up the window, hang from the ceiling,

with sinister smile and demon eyes.

They locked you up this Halloween.

But you will escape by late spring 

to eat flies.


And tourists.

~Nolcha Fox



         new year starts

   with the same stupidity 

           and continues 

   with the same stupidity

~Rupa Anand



Thoughts are disheveled

and so is my hair.

Ends split for cover

hiding under blankets,

cowering from light.

~Nolcha Fox



Why am I


not what the world sees?

How long before

the monster in the mirror

becomes this failed me?

~Nolcha Fox



clashing

with my Hawaiian shirt

his vacation plans

~Roberta Beach Jacobson



Where I’m going I

bring only what I need

a portion of me

suitcase full

of nothing, empty

of embrace, I simply

chase down a corridor

waiting to return

to the me I left behind

~Julie A. Dickson



staycation every room comes with a cat

~Roberta Beach Jacobson



                new year meows

            not the same old kibble again? 

         aren’t we getting something new?

              ~Rupa Anand


Evening of December 24, 2022


Nervous Days


Nervous days

lead to a breakdown,

such are the results,

a day or days I do not

long for. This is a

path filled with dread.

I count to ten forward

and backward. I say to her,

my muse, why do roses die?

~Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal



in tropical realms

where scorpions love sneakers

shake well before use

~James Penha



Walking Along in Silence

Walking alone in silence.

It was the perfect day.

My foot arches felt no pain.

The sun shone brightly in the sky.

Birds provided the music.

I had no need to use my voice.

~Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal



In the scent of ordure birthing,

refugees in pregnant pause,

am I ready for the holy,

recognised, unlikely shift,

or is faith, unstable, moving,

powerless baby, needing love?

Hosts, it seems, are all around us,

but we wait for glory’s shine;

realise the kingdom waiting

for those sitting in the dark.


~Stephen Kingsnorth



fashion parade

all my childhood

insecurities

~Mona Bedi



for years

playing hide and seek

me with myself

~Ram Chandran



the Lord exists

as disembodied

whatever to my

whateverness

~Wayne Burke



candle

                  d

                      r

                          i

                             p  

                                s

 a  lavender

scented pool

~Linda Ludwig


Afternoon of December 23, 2022


grandmother chair I overwinter

~Hemapriya Chellappan



with all my degrees failing the robot test

~Mona Bedi



dementia the comfort of not knowing

~Mona Bedi



Christmas carols —

this year's service

mostly delayed

~Amoolya Kamalnath



gift-wrapped box —

father doesn't bring

what i want

~Amoolya Kamalnath



having trouble sleeping on a full moon

~Nani Mariani



travel moon from here to where

~Hemapriya Chellappan


Afternoon of December 22, 2022

 

 

fur all hugged off

eyes in the button box, yet

i'll always love you


~Pat Geyer



thinking of ku even in the loo

~Sreenath



the people I don't get cards from anymore

~Patrick Sweeney



yuletide gathering winter fuel the flames of war

~Keith Evetts



digging too deep missing the point critics

~A.J. Anwar



    zig zagging kite

    /

slicing sky

~Rob McKinnon

 

 

morality police//cutting hair

~Rob McKinnon



slim wrists of

the matterhorn triplets

bathed with dew

~Richard Magahiz



midnight

suddenly awake from a dream where I am dead

~Ram Chandran