Poetry - Year III - Number 12 - April 2018

THE CLOSED DOORby Mukund Gnanadesikan  THE CLOSED DOOR The closed door never opens Unless a hand so brave Can brave the darkness Find the knob And twist against The forces of inertia Fearful though they be And thus the dark room Stays inhabited For days Or...

MIDLIFEby Timothy Robbins Midlife You go to bed early. The typewriter(which stutters) is locked in the closetfor fear it will write somethingbeautiful. It does anyway, clatteringon its own in the arms of all those emptyshirts, between...

EQUINOX SWINGSby Anca Vlasopolos  Equinox Swings you’d think equinox means scales perfectly balancedour tilting world for once in harmony yet the arc of sun over trees and water cuts itself thinnerthinner each day         while moon’s arc rises           ...

I TRAVELEDby Kai Raine Heart An apartment buried in booksA nose buried in pagesEyes that fill and spill.Pages smudge.Face in a pillow,Muffled screams?Sobs?Cries. Heart caves to too much caffeine,Pressure in the chestDesperate for a bed.Responsibilities abound.Pushed to...

REFUSALS by Jeanette L. Miller REFUSALS           (after watching Jean Cocteau’s “Orphee”)Death calls him from the mirrorbut men can’t reach her alive.The mirror remains only mirroruntil Orpheus puts on his gloves. Hands first, he passes through the glass,becoming Death’s...

SURFERSBy Byron Beynon BOB DYLAN: BLOOD ON THE TRACKS The strong cardboard sleeve camewith Till's photographas the back cover turnedto an illustration by Oppenheim;I'd heard Dylan sing liveonly once in an English field,occupying the stage like...

THE CIRCLEby Marc Carver AMBIVALENCE The man stands at the barhe tries to talk to everyone who comes to the barbut most ignore himI don't know how long he has been therebut I am guessing a...

THE ARROWS by Herbert Martin  The Arrows,ate into Saint Sebastian’s freshlike liquid acid,like somethingapplied to antiquesto preserve them,or prepare themfor a market thatwill pay millionsof dollars, or lireor Deutch Marksfor believers and non-believers alike.There is no accountingfor...

FOR EMILYby Joe Murphy For Emily In Remembrance It seems your years were set too closely together:When one toppled, all the others fell. Shut the power off, you said. Enough. Your bodyQuickly shut down. Your smile is now as...

POST WAR BABYby Timothy Dyson  POST WAR BABYI never knew my birth motheryet, she gave me more than lifeOn a small velvet turntablesix babies put out for choosingThe young post-war couplescame at appointed times From Captain...