THE LAND BETWEEN by Brandon Marlon
THE LAND BETWEENby Brandon Marlon
The Land Between
Once the country of our defeat,now a liminal ecotone, zone of our appreciation,an abundant overlap blendingCanadian Shield with St. Lawrence Lowlandsto forge a biodiverse greenbelt of grassland birds,oaken...
MY MAMA’S WALTZ by Timothy Pilgrim
MY MAMA'S WALTZBy Timothy Pilgrim
My mama’s waltz(with a nod to Theodore Roethke)
The perfume on your dresscould drive a young boy crazy —dark lust, secret untold since —our nightly ritual, flow and bend.
We whirled from...
SAUCER OF STARLIGHT by Bobbi Sinha-Morey
SAUCER OF STARLIGHTby Bobbi Sinha-Morey Saucer of StarlightThe woman with dementiadoesn't come out to sit in herpatio anymore and her windchimes no longer caressed bythe wind have lost their sound;the only spark of bright energyare...
SWIMMING WITH PICASSO by Mike Jurkovic
SWIMMING WITH PICASSOBy Mike Jurkovic
We Will Judge Angels
We will judge angelsand consider ourselvesthe best among them.Lengthening the ruse of yearsby that much more,that much more.
We will judge angelsand the consensus will tiltin our favor.Igniting...
IN HIGH SCHOOL by Ron Riekki
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,...
TWELVE O’CLOCK HIGH by Duane Anderson
TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGHBy Duane Anderson
Detective Skills
I was about to ask her if she was donating todaysince she had done so previously at thepast two blood drives, but then I rememberedthat she gave double reds...
SOMETHING IN THE WATER by Don Thompson
SOMETHING IN THE WATERby Don Thompson
Famous Fathers(Theodore Roosevelt III)
Some sons are born into ghostliness,never quite there—unnoticed,haunting the dark cornersof their father’s repute.Their complaints seem to come from far away.
Others who are recalcitrantand polished like...
MR. WONDERFUL by Jack Brown
MR. WONDERFULby Jack Brown
THE RHYTHM OF TIME
This is the hour of the cat.One with the night.On the street.Air parted as she wasgliding in through lamplightbetween cars over curbs.Flexing on paw pads.Claws gripping concrete.Grey sidewalk...
CALM by Elana Wolff
CALMby Elana Wolff Calm,not so long ago / the river ambling through the valley /easy in the aptitude of being in the blue beside the fireweedand pocket gophers stomping on the vandal grass / the...
THE WATER BUG by Luba Ostashevsky
THE WATER BUGby Luba Ostashevsky The Water bugA large water bug lay at the entrance to the kitchen.Its tentacles pointed up.The sloped roof of its home was a boat run aground on the cold tan...