A COLUMN OF SMOKE by Sally Sandler
A Column of Smoke
ghosted west to the seaand I missed my off ramp
like most of the otherswho prayed to the fire gods
oh please, not me,and I saw from a distance
the mean residueof burnt chaparral...
NOTICING WOMEN by Madlynn Haber
Noticing Women
I am not the woman in the front row staring with adoring eyes at the poet,her husband, on the stage behind the podium, reading from his collection.
Nor am I the woman standing behind...
SUNSHOWER by Zebulon Huset
Killing it, Cooking It
Friday night the second month of high school—but we weren't thinking about school.It stole hours that we used to spend skating.All summer, every day, all day we were rolling.Curfew didn't lift...
POPULATION DENSITY by Gary Beck
Decay of Democracy
The political charadein divided Americabecomes tenser dailyas issues, agendas, ambitionsrasp the public well-beingtrying to survivean irresponsible President,who tells the people‘there are good peopleon each side’when nazis and radicalsfight each otherfor extremist views,instead...
WOW by Boris Kokotov
A trap
I have mixed feelings about what happened that day --following her out of curiosity,staying in her place for no reason except…
Pity. Is it the right word?
A table, a chair, a bed, a single...
TRAVEL ADVISORY by Mark Fleckenstein
TRAVEL ADVISORY
Some days the world is a luscious peach.Others, a cold boiled potato. The differencebetween knowing what to do and doing itis four dollars. How you get there is your business.If praying your way,...
NEON MARMALADE by Alex Hand
A stained glass imaginingFrom the third floor the treetops are filigree fine,emergent tendrils nod frantic nervousnessin the ethereal breath of a gossamer breeze.Lace leaves play like piano fingerscaught by ripples from whipish curlicue.
The street...
GOAL POSTED by Rebecca Dempsey
Goal posted
There was nothing saiduntil my brothers saw it happen.They told Mum, who, shaking in rage,told the head nun about the bullying.More than bullied,small boys were grabbed, arms held,and with their legs spreadThey were...
A NIGHT ALONE by Adelaide Shaw
A Night Alone
It is a rain pinging, downspout gurgling, wind gusting, pines shushing, leaves swishing night. It is a game after game of solitaire losing night. It is a facing eternity, an aging awareness,...
THE TOWER by Daniel King
Aphelion Cadences
Opal light from AtlasLensed on cyan dawn shoalsBurns but forms an echoCascades wild in my soul.
Here I stand in wonderHere I stand with arms raisedI the son of solaceSetting oceans ablaze.
27 TauriSapphire shadowed...