OUT IN THE DISTANCE by Holly Day
OUT IN THE DISTANCEBy Holly Day
Spring
ice melts in noisy rivuletsresumes descent on muddy river banks
poking its greasy snout out of the watera bullhead lumbers out of torpor, floats to the surface
frightens newly-hatched crawfish and...
DAY AT THE BEACH by Debbie Richard
DAY AT THE BEACHBy Debbie Richard
LuminescenceExuding brilliance, you step into a roomas an actor steps onto a stage,heads turn, instantly drawn to your smile,the tilt of your head, the gracefulway you carry yourself –an...
FAREWELL by George Freek
FAREWELLBy George Freek
FAREWELL (After Tu Fu)
Now we have to part.You go in one direction,I go in the other.Will we be drunk together,ever again? Last night,walking beside the lake,we sang ballads to the moon,nearly until...
ON VIEWING THE CORPSE OF MY MOTHER-IN-LAW by Nolo Segundo
ON VIEWING THE CORPSE OF MY MOTHER-IN-LAW
By Nolo Segundo
How could this –thing, have been her?Lying shriveled and small on the bedAs those who loved (and feared) herGathered in the bereft hospital roomTo let their...
GHOSTS by Richard Dinges
GHOSTSBy Richard Dinges, Jr.
Ghosts
When young, I viewedthe outside worldin a black and whitebox, veiled by a thindusting of snow, voicesa static blend spokenin simple sentences,that winded outwhen I slept, mythoughts and memoriesechoed by ghoststhat...
WALKING by Patrick Hurley
WALKING…selectionsBy Patrick Hurley
***
letters and numbers convergethen dissolve into pure sound
suddenly visible in the pavementa repeated pattern of circles
late sounds come to usapproaching dissonance beautifully
eyes burn and water–the airborne miasma
each cold breath a knife bladeand...
AMBITION by Abigail Van Kirk
AMBITIONBy Abigail Van Kirk
Ambition
Scrape coffee grounds from under nails for the altar.
Lift up tatters of atriums and ventricles,two each for disheartened ones,beside other meagerbruised-fruit offerings.
Peaches in sick-sweet rottenness, downing their pits and kulningwith this throat.Swallow...
RAPTURE OF FUNK by Lenny Lewis
THE RAPTURE OF FUNK
By Lenny Lewis
Two nights before Frediawas due backfrom elective castrationI carried her one-eyedblack dog down the stairs.Both of us soakedin his urine.It was all he could doto stand up. Totteringin circles....
LOVELY DREAMS by Mitchel Montagna
LOVELY DREAMSBy Mitchel Montagna
For Ann, 1953-1970
There’s darkness ahead, with reels of grief.But on Christmas Eve nobody could know.They gathered in church to voice their beliefin tones as serene as the falling snow.
Ann’s brother served...
GONE GIRL by Lana Bella
GONE GIRLBy Lana Bella
ENWREATHED
Now she knew it has been wintersoaking long stretches of rivers and fields. Moving hands intopockets thick of tweed, skin feltthe hollows flaked softly whatsnow patterns made, enwreathedto the islands of her bone-bed.Parched...