Poetry - Year IV - Number 21 - February 2019

REDUCTIONby Jonathan Dowdle RiffIn the rebound, resound,Where all thoughts go to drown,And we sleep beneath the sea,That buries us in echoes bleed;How are we to sleep or dreamBetween the stitch and the seam,Plucking grief from...

SO BRIEFLY HEREby John Grey THESE VACATION MEMORIESTourists trudge throughthe makeshift marketplace along the dock,inspect the obligatory merchandise:chess sets, shell necklaces,coconuts carved into faces."Very cheap," says one local after another.But the visitors have little time...

THE LAW OF SILENCEby David Dephy When a Poet I am a firm believerThat as soon as a person stops lyingTo himself,He will be able to find someoneHe can trust unconditionally.And this someone is his own...

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...

BIG TIMEby Dave Nielsen Time’s Up To see how beautiful a single rock is,to put one in one’s yardby crane, by a teamof workers.The beginning of time—set off by a flowerbed!Look at the children next to...

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...

RED FORESTby Dmitry Blizniuk Red forest You live in me.Every morning you come to my eyesFrom inside my head. They look like French windows –Their clear cast glass extends down to your feet.You stretch yourself on...

LETTER TO A YOUNG POETby Korkut Onaran AFFINITIES A starfish lives in a five-hour day,an octopus in October.Words are crawling all over me!‘Cheek’ sits on my cheek. ‘T’ is Christian, ‘t’ is born again.‘K’ is my name,...

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...

NE PLUS ULTRAby John Casey This That momentYour sweet smileElevated meAsked for nothingWarmed my world-worn heartValidated my existence The honest, nova-bright life of your eyesThat purest expression of a wantOnly to loveOnly meAnd I was overcome A sublime,...