Poetry

Gnawing at the Flesh Teeth gnaw at the flesh belowhungry to erase what was once sweet. There is a throbbing beatingat the rhythm of a dying heart. It feeds to grow like a playing ballmade of rebar...

Temporal Lapse, Chestnut Street I move clay pots and watering cans, plant chamomile under cloudy first light, emerald clover velvety against shins. There’s a song in my head with no place to go; I hum notes in the rising...

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...

NATURE / STOP / IGNOREBy Karl Miller Nature/violence (Diptych) Stop (Triptych) Ignore (Diptych) About the Author: Karl Miller’s fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous periodicals, including RE:AL, Portland Review, Subtle Tea, Cold Mountain Review and others; his play,...

Transcontinental How do you take it? She says.Clouds have rolled in, drawn thinend to end like cotton pantieson high-tension wire. Below the seaof non-native grasses is Lincoln,then below alkali flats,the lost golden tablets of Joseph...

The Word The word fell into a vat of wordsThe vat so full sometimes a wordSpills over and is lost The word drifts down through other wordsMingles and shiftsLetters rub offLetters are addedThe word meets friendsHolds...

BREATHINGBy Bryan McCormack    BreathingThe father’s breathing steadiedto a light,sputtering hum.Outside his door, the sonlistened carefully, ingesting the hum’svibrations, producing another sputterin his eardrums.It was like this before, when the son was a boy,and it continues...

IN ANOTHER MAN'S POEMby Gordon Roberts After the Service                     for RudianneAfter the serviceAfter the prayersAfter the family gatheringGoing through his stuffMy sister shows meHis All-Star Cons in blue suedeHis feet were narrowMine are wideBut I took...

SOFTLY ABOVE the last clouds of dayare rooms overthe ocean,curtains of moisturereabsorbed,exposing aa carpet of stars,glistening sweetnessnourished by angelsas we trespassbeneath heaven WET rainy citygray on grayblack streetsclouds pressed lowshoulders in the misteach puddlea fluid fingerprintreflectingjagged photosof...

APRIL CHILDREN by Kevin Keane Unsuccessful Death The crossbow above her fireplaceWas to me a precious symbol of her glowing in disguiseHer persistent beauty carved heavy images into my mindShe held me with cold finger tipsWrenching from...