Poetry – Year VIII – Number 59 – March 2023

Possible Power Metaphors Looking through her own reflectionat a yellow patterned python,a teenage girl asks why the snakehas not eaten a mouse companionwho, sitting on the snake’s head,grooms her tiny arms. Looking back, maybe seeing doublepossibly...

Devilsafter Ambrose Bierce (The Devil’s Dictionary) Devils want to thrustthe business end of a pininto humanity’s metaphorical eye.They often regret their danceas angels on its tiny silver headand the question of how many.But I know...

Farther up the road you gonna reap what you sowMetaphor, metaphor, metaphor—impossible to kill.Take it as given round this big river that nearlyevery neighbor has sliced off a rattler head,watched the headless rope’s shivering...

AshoreIn the morning the scarring world holds me down so I cannot rise.I stretch my arms above my head like elastic bands with no end.My toes reach far below until my calves ache and...

Future Perfect I walked the old street last night,finding your front stepsnow claimed by other lovers and saw them in shadow light,knowing that such timesare youthful, frantic moments when the future lies distantand reminiscenceis a comfort still...

Best Friend Fey-eyed, nightgown-clad,Her hair well tousled;In her hands a bear or doll,The silhouette did not reveal. She was my best friend,Her ears where secrets were whispered. Her dreams, I learned;Her love, I treasured.It nectared bitter days,And...

Letters to the Editor Should be dead on arrival.Should not reach the light of day.Should not be thought upIn the minds of the peopleWho intend to write them. We can put a stop that. We can...

Sleepy Whale 214 How many broken hearts ourBroken in the shade of the nightToo weak to gasp courting deathNow his toes to the daisiesPitch silent dark night of deathWhen you are dead you are deadThen...

PortugueseÁfrica, A Minha casa em Luanda, Angola Quando eu era criança, a casa onde nasci existia muitos anos antes.Entrando da parte de trás, onde se localizava a cozinha com pintura e um verde pálido,O forno...

Theseus’ Protégé Lost in a maze, I search for cottonfibers leading me to the entranceof an abyss portending danger,dead ends & dissembling minitourswho snip yarn balls, block myprogression, muddle clear perception,shade glimmers of light &...