WOODEN STAIRS by Donna M. Davis
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...
PALMERS by Sterling Warner
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 &...
BEST FRIEND by Ellouisa Chen
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...
THE FOOL’S MASK by Mark Vogel
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...
THREE POEMS by Phil Huffy
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...
BUTTERSCOTCH Bryanna Botham
I find us in Vol 314, Issue 4 of Scientific American
Two precision experiments disagree on how long neutrons live before decaying so maybethat explains the discrepancy between views on continuing our relationship;my experiment found...
POSSIBLE POWER METAPHORS by Terry Trowbrige
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...
GOVERNADA by Oksana Mauricio
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...
ASHORE by Laurie Hollman
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...
SLEEPY WHALE by Terry Brinkman
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...