Poetry - Year V - Number 31 - December 2019

HEARINGby Diane Webster HEARING My hearing intensifieswhen I lay me down to sleeplike feral cat dozingon top of abandoned shelfwith sounds ticklingdelicate ear hairs like train whistle miles awaywith wind I am in my bedroomat my parent’s...

LISBONby Byron Beynon   WAVESFirm muscles of watermove deliberately across the boardpumping the air with sounds;a panoply of waves,the preserved overlapin a mind of curling whisperscome to blend with the shore.Complex characterswith a fickle strengththeir joints...

Survivisection A coal stove burns in the corner. I don't want a coal stove. In a survival situation, versatility is essential.Knife, ax & machete — these items are extremely necessary. Other minimallists have taken the count-ing challenge to the limit.I...

BALM by Pitambar Naik BalmPitambar Naik Remember the havoc in your thick apple-red heartyour journey finishes in the middle of the rainy kisses   how to coin a new emotive reaction in the autumn season your solitude is a bony...

ALTEREDby LB Sedlacek AssemblyPlace theframeon a flatcleansurface bend tabsbackremove protectivefilminsertpictureartworklifebend tabsforwardandpresstosecurehangframeon aflatcleansurface. Nobody’s PlaygroundI noticed the slides first, hidden in thetrees, trees grown up around camouflagingthe unused abandoned playgroundthe utility building red with doors wideopen – it is empty,...

THE ARENAby Doug Bolling Once More Summer of 2018  along the Gulf.Our journeys toward an undecidedFar off but strangely near.The quickening winds from the south,Touch of palm leaf against exploring flesh.0ur voices sometimes taut as new...

SHADOWS AT NOONby Terry Brinkman                                                                                                                 Shadows at Noon Swift wings no longer serveShadows at noonLike sailboats along the horizonClouds shadows quakingA flock of birds crashes pastNow calm returnsAn arrow quivers the airLike sailboats along the horizonWith...

SOME MONDAY OR ANOTHERby RC deWinter  Some Monday or AnotherI wasn't there when the microwave caught fire.This is what happens when dementors roam unsupervised.No real damage except now there's no microwave.Someday a new one from...

DEAR PROFESSORby Jesse Benjamin Dear Professor You know so much more of the world than I,Even though you lack the simplest sophistications,Born as you were, in the fine dust of the piedmont,Reared in staggering steps, between...