Poetry

LOVE IS IN THE PROOFBy Dr. Peter Scheponik Pond Song Today the pond has visitors, Canadian geese,an even dozen gliding across its rippling surface,the geese dip gracefully among the reedsrigid with December’s breath.They are a prayer...

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...

INTRICATE MEANDERS OF BRITTLE LANDby Eduardo Escalante Episodes to remember How many times do I think I've losta river, culture, language, the sense of the first spaceand in the right place. Despite the arbitrary questionsof certain...

Modest Triumph At the dour end of a dismal dayin a run of such daysthat compose an agewhere I find myself no longer young,somehow I come almost alivewith evening, PBS NewsHour,a modest dinner, and after...

IN HIGH SCHOOLby Ron Riekki             In High School, We Tried to Light Each Other on Fire We didn’t want to end lives, but rather to seehow beautiful the direction of flames could be.We were stupid,...

THE DRINKING POEMby Jesse Domingos What’s In a Name Who was he?The man I am named after, Jesse.A king, a warrior?No, A shepherd with seven children.What happen to your sons? Of your daughters?Were you there as they...

STARSby Cecilia Devine AugustWhat would you thinkIf I told youI dreamt ofyour open-mouthed kisses on my neckAndyour touch against my leg-stained with the Redwood Earth?You and I hidden altogether byA canopy of trees.I could have...

WHEN I DREAM WELLBy David Matthews When I Dream Well Her head held as if she were posingnow for Renoir, yesterday Rodin,her face I knowfrom when I dream wellchance encounters on grand boulevardswhere peacocks admire themselvesin...

NEW TESTAMENTby George Held  New Testament And the land shall open like a giant vaginaallowing the re-birth channel to swallowall the detritus of our sick civilization –the fossil fuel-guzzling auto-mobiles,the stone mansions and cardboard shacks,fences and...

ARTISANby Anthony Lawrence    Leonard CohenAt a Jewish food stall, considering knaidlach, shakshuka and falafel, Leonard Cohen took my order. His apron was dusted with fingerprints. His name badge flashed in the sun as he moved...