Poetry - Year IV - Number 21 - February 2019

UNHOLY MEDICINEby Mark J. Mitchell UNHOLY MEDICINE If Buddha had a coldwould the eight-spoked wheelstill start to turn? Would the diamond vehicleconvey learned saintsabove the summit of Mount Meru? Would chanting monksset ancient columnsvibrating with wordless songs? Would meditation...

THAT OLD BLACK MAGICby Gary Beck Machine Learning Before a car can drivewithout a human,one must first get behind the wheel.As the driver accelerates,stops and turns on local streets,sensors in the carrecord what he seesand how...

BUTTON COLLECTIONby Howard Winn   BUTTON COLLECTIONBringing order to our mother’s house,as she sat in her rocking chairwatching a daytime television program,my sister threw out old candy boxescontaining buttons hoardedfrom at least sixty years.They sounded like...

LOVEby Katharine Studer Love Before the word is spokenA man might walk on handsDangling mid-air without a net or wire,Concentrating to keep the weightof his legs extended straight in the center,Nudging his fingers to gain an...

BUTTON COLLECTIONby Howard Winn   BUTTON COLLECTIONBringing order to our mother’s house,as she sat in her rocking chairwatching a daytime television program,my sister threw out old candy boxescontaining buttons hoardedfrom at least sixty years.They sounded like...

LOVEby Katharine Studer Love Before the word is spokenA man might walk on handsDangling mid-air without a net or wire,Concentrating to keep the weightof his legs extended straight in the center,Nudging his fingers to gain an...

RESSURECTIONby Barry Silesky RESURRECTION A phone call tells me I’m breathing and the world returns.  Isn’t that what they mean by God?  It must be what we’ve been waiting for. There's more of course, but this...

THE LOST RIVERby Jane Varley Hummingbirds The varmint squirrel dropped a gnawed          pinecone like a grenade out of a fir tree                    and a hummingbird turnedmy ear inside out,          rapidfire thrum of tiny bones.                              Time machine of thought: Someday you will have...

WHAT SHE NEEDSby Sophie Chen SHAMEFUL GOODBYESShe gave you all she hadinterminable affectionday to night fondnessa bundle of peaceon nights you canhardly think straightthe after hourswhere even tequilacouldn't calm your angstyet youeradicated her souldisfigured her...

BRAND OF BROKENby Madison Smith brand of broken They will tell you it’s nature, not nurture. The disorders and the diseases. Because the list of                          Bad Things That Need Fixed grows (and they know you’re sensitive about it).Generational,...