Poetry - Year II - Number 8 - July 2017

SHUDDERBy Dustin Pickering  Shudder Love, shudder and face me:look at these cold, keen eyesand terrify them.Make sound into lightand drive each fault down harder into my heart. I am numb with confusionand this madness makes me ineptat...

IF THE TRUTH BE SAID   Patrick Erickson IF THE TRUTH BE SAID                                                                                             and static arises                                                                                     to cause grievancesamong the several partiesof a multi-party line or if a single beamof fiber optic cablecarries multiple parties and the resulting staticcauses grievancesand sparks...

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...

BLUE GRASSBy Gabriella Garofalo God, why have you got so many souls? In the deepest blue of your existence No, you think and shout, no – Even stones fear beasts and kids Trees stifle branches A red lamp measures time...

VISITORBy Jessica Alverson The moon is a shadow in the blue sky Grey-white apparition loomingIn darknessIt will be light Same neighborhood walkBuildingsStreetsSidewalk carrier of 1000 paths The west coast music of 1990sTells my body to walkTells my mind...

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...

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...

CHASMBy Lisa Brognano     CHASMHe yells to her overBig bank of hills andSees nothing but bluntBrown banks and a snakeRiver below.She hears Tom and fromHer ledge moves a little,Sees the river and some grass.He strains and...

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...

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...