Afternoon of August 9, 2023

 

at the mercy

of capricious gods:

a ship of fools

~Jerome Berglund

pie-eyed Dorothy Parker drags her broken-legged zebras on a rainy leash

~Patrick Sweeney

Fleas and Lice

with a nod to Robert Frost

Some say the world will succumb to fleas.

Some say lice.

From what I know of desire and "itchies",

I hold with those who favor fleas!

But if I had to think and scratch twice,

I think I know enough of infestations

to say that lice also work nice...

and will suffice

...especially on old farm cats.

~Thomas A. Thrun

Brief Bio - COVID

Hard-wired to 

   know no boundaries,

   have no filter,

   honor no relationship,

   keep no curfews, and have no friends.

Thus, enviable.   In the Land of Virion, 

   the green-eyed monster is alive and well.

~Suzanne S. Austin-Hill

another wedding invitation

— seven year itch

~Wanda Amos

as I turn my thoughts to faraway things, she wants me to do something about the wasps

~Patrick Sweeney

still some way off the mountain improvising buddha jazz

~Herb Tate

she thinks Othello overreacted

~Patrick Sweeney

eyes wide open   the bedwetter's first sleep-over

~Patrick Sweeney

listening to mother’s knitting unravelling grandmother’s pearls

~Herb Tate

stealing

through a crack in the door

another moment

stolen

~Herb Tate

obsolete part


good for nothing

in latest model

~Jerome Berglund

blue morning

I steal a ring

from Saturn

~Sharon Ferrante

El Diablo

last orders

barflies sticky drinking

mixing feet

~Herb Tate

his last request—

dusting the dust off

Ashes to Ashes

~Herb Tate

mild enough

to catch hell

tax brackets

~Jerome Berglund

mistle thrush

seeds in the air

of Christmas kisses

~Herb Tate

Christmas carolers outside my door

I give them a $20 bill

to stop singing

~John J. Dunphy

city—

never a lonely

pigeon

~Sharon Ferrante

highlight of my formal education

playing Wipe Out

on my desk

~Patrick Sweeney 

 

Morning of August 9, 2023

 

 

P

H

O

T

o

S

y

N

t

H

e

s

i

S

~William Bain

down the line

F-16s bow

in holy worship

~Richard Magahiz

twenty paces behind walks a moon

~Richard Magahiz

sisyphus reveling in the fragrance of my litter box

~Jean-Paul Moyer

online storefront    twelve attractively priced skulls

~Richard Magahiz

Even the fleas hunkered down in the shade today

~Julie A. Dickson

under

quasarlight

neutrino

hatchlings

quarrel

~Richard Magahiz

cheese puffs

our illusions dissolve

in the downpour

~Jean-Paul Moyer

chicken livers what's poppin' at the peep show

~Jean-Paul Moyer

peepholes in my teeth      for the Demiurge

~Richard Magahiz

 

Afternoon of August 7, 2023

Borne

my mother and father are aliens

their skin not green but

dirt ridden

not of your land

the land of the free

~Sandy Ruiz

Soul Ties

My first love forgot to tell me

to let go and move on.

~Sandy Ruiz

Mother’s Day

the hibiscus

never forgets

~Randy Brooks

mailed from prison

a hand-drawn birthday card from

the father she's never met

~John J. Dunphy

serif the abyss at the nib of god’s fountain pen

~Jean-Paul Moyer

mussel remains on shore empty parentheses

~Randy Brooks

wily my sister’s busted whisker

~Jean-Paul Moyer

In the Future

There may be

remote controlled razors

but you will still have to get

off the couch and go to store

for new batteries!

~Keith Snow

There are two problems with poetry readings.

First, you have to listen to other people.

Second, they have to listen to you.

~Noah Berlatsky

the only thing to

eclipse a Taylor Swift concert –

the Barbie movie

~Jennifer Gurney

Attachment Dysphoria

My ex-boyfriend introduced me to his close friends,

Bipolar disorder, suicide, and depression.

At the time,

I did not know how contagious they were.

~Sandy Ruiz

swarming

the queen bee

apocalypse

~C.X. Turner

Afternoon of August 4, 2023

noir nail tips

graveyard gardener

~JL Huffman

my magic claimed me

i always wanted

to be a princess,

but deep in my bones

my magic already

claimed me: witch.

~linda m. crate

derelict home

mold marches up the walls

~JL Huffman

the green fly

hesitates between his plate

and mine

~Françoise Maurice

other storms 

they say when it rains,

it pours;

which wouldn't be so bad

if my roof weren't already

leaking with other storms.

~linda m. crate

black and white zebra shunning white and black zebra

~John Hawkhead

tap

slow

sc

ro

ll

flick

to

post

us

all

smiles

~Chris Peys

under stars navigating belief systems

~John Hawkhead

won't drink poison

i'm not everyone's

cup of tea,

and that's okay;

i won't drink poison

just to have

company.

~linda m. crate

vines curl around a dead tree

codependent love

~Steve Van Allen

waste of time

maybe if you had

loved me back,

it would've been worth

everything i lost;

but you didn't and it wasn't

and i am angry for the time

i cannot have back.

~linda m. crate

cloud rainbow colors of them becoming them

~Chris Peys

advertising hoarding pointless objects

~John Hawkhead

roadside attractions

much ado about nothing

~JL Huffman