Poetry - Year II - Number 8 - July 2017

HIGH PLACE PHENOMENONBy Hailey Cragun High Place Phenomenon Along the red cliff sidewith staggering ten story dropswe cling to a chain, silver and black,its mark worn into the stone. The August sun warms the sandstonewhen my hand,...

OFF-BEATBy Julianna Bjorksten AT SMALLS On the night of starry time-bomb and twinkling blunderCaught in the stagnant bulk of two page compositions and futile coffee treksShared sheets and tender televisionWas a moonlit crater —a plungeunexplored I slipped...

A SIMPLE PROPOSITIONBy Evyn McGraw  WakeWith twisting muscles I whippedMy body into shape,I ran like a machine,Pumping down the pavement through the dead winter wood,When water’s whisper hissedMy name. The call led me off the path,Into...

THE PUSHBy Clay Reed DynamicAfter Denise Duhamel Having a child changes a relationship,at least that’s what our friends with childrenhave told us several times.“It changes the dynamic!” they say,acting as if they are letting us inon...

FISHING LOCK NESSBy Samuel W. James  Fishing Loch Ness the stones are cool grey or hairy brown;the water barely darkens themfor yards and yards out we argue about how deep it is,though it could certainly hide a...

WITH HERBy Judah Cricelli  Three is few,One is two, Her crease, and hue,The halogen flickers when I amWith her.Drips with dew,Mud-freckled shoe,Scuffed knees, hers too, The playground goes silent when I am With her. Carpet is soft, An ocean of...

THE PUSHBy Clay Reed DynamicAfter Denise Duhamel Having a child changes a relationship,at least that’s what our friends with childrenhave told us several times.“It changes the dynamic!” they say,acting as if they are letting us inon...

INSTINCTBy Chase Spruiell instinct I look a dog dead in the eye.He squeaks. He squirms. But he stays where he is.Like the infantry. Like the front line. Stupid, a follower. Frozen, unable to thinkor move. Petrified.Instinctually stuck.An empty sack of fur.He knows...

THE ASIAN SHOPKEEPERBy Kay Merkel Boruff  The Asian Shopkeeper My eyes adjust to the darkness,a darkness crowded with antiques splayed in discord.Candles silhouette artists’ legacies rendered as torn war offerings.Lệy allows me to wander, willing me...

THE PROPAGATIONBy Mark Young The Mackerel Fish school whenthe moon is out. Be-fore. Separate. Atvarious levels withdisparate meanings.States of grace. Wait-ing for the cast of lightacross the surface of the water. On app-earance drawn to it.Coalesce, luminescent.In the...