Valentine’s Day by Martha Hayes After our birthday party, I took the picture. You and your new bicycle: a shiny ten-speed whose spokes spun fireworks when the sun caught you in flight. My new lens drew you out of that winter day. My nose pressed against the cold plastic like your first signs of womanhood […]
Under a Daylight Moon by Mary Rogers-Grantham
Under a Daylight Moon by Mary Rogers-Grantham At noon, a woman plants lilies. She hums, as if expecting someone to join her. The moon is pale, the sunlight pristine, an earthworm pushes through a fresh mound of black dirt. The woman inhales spring. She hums again. ### Mary Rogers-Grantham’s poems have appeared in various publications, […]
The Grapefruit by Lauren Hunt
The Grapefruit by Lauren Hunt My fingers barely close around the grapefruit. I feel the weight and size of it, how the rind gives And stretches and rolls in the palm of my hand, The missing half of a long forgotten morning prayer. This grapefruit is a memory, aged but precious. I am a child […]
Dancing in Trance: Drenched in the Divine by Kavita Venkateswar
Dancing in Trance: Drenched in the Divine by Kavita Venkateswar Flutes of the bamboo tremble The thrum of the gamelan Resonates under my feet Strike of the mallet Metallophones ring Strings, rebab, rise In symphony Cacophony I tremble Flutter Quake Crash! It is she She comes for us Crash of the gong wadoan pendulous breasts […]
blind hope blues by by henry 7. reneau, jr
blind hope blues for trena riley by henry 7. reneau, jr the blues toil within a gilded, circular vacuum. when the Mason jar tilt sideways hobbled lightening bugs illuminate the world inside their glass cage with the last remaining light casting a shadow on the sun, beauty within emptiness, hidden in plain sight. we are […]
Killer Cocktails and Marshall Swindles by Jillian Garner
Killer Cocktails and Marshall Swindles by Jillian Garner I want to know what if feels like to play chess with death. Walking into that shared hospital room everyday, Your killer cocktails waiting to creep into your prosthetic veins. To kiss your whimsical strands, They’ll be gone soon anyways. To shuffle to the bathroom, Your […]
Untitled By Jennifer-Crystal Johnson
Untitled By Jennifer-Crystal Johnson Nearing the edge Of sanity And every dream Flashes before her With a pure Intensity The beauty of Reality Inside out *As published in Strangers with Familiar Faces ### Jennifer-Crystal Johnson is originally from Germany, but was raised all over. She has published one novella under her former last name, The […]
Blues by Brendan Sullivan
Blues by Brendan Sullivan Morning comes in widow’s weeds while gloom settles to the bottom of my cup, begging to be stirred, wondering why my chin has fallen over the rim and how come my feet take forever to shuffle over floorboards and dust. I am vacant, worn down – just this mud-bare rug, heels […]
I Really Hate Doing This! We Need Your Help!
I really hate doing this! We need your help again. We have run our: Raise Money Campaign very quietly. It turns out, that’s not the best way to try to raise money for something. So, we are running this request to all of our readers once again. I hate asking for money, and please believe […]
Dead Authors by Blazhia Parker
by Blazhia Parker I wish we could talk All I’m left with is mystery and interpretation What if I’ve gotten it all wrong? Maybe I’ve mutilated Or overly debated By defending your words, Words that I’ve never actually heard uttered from your mouth
Night’s Brilliance by Dabir Ahmed Shaikh
Night’s Brilliance by Dabir Ahmed Shaikh Stream of consciousness flows on, stars smile on Forms shapes, smiles flit on. Desires fulfilled unfulfilled whirl on. Stars of gloom on the mournful sky haunted by the horror of the onslaught Astronauts spin on to distant darkness. My heart beats spill out stream of sorrow. The new shapes […]
The Bedroom by Doug Draime
The Bedroom by Doug Draime There is no point of reflection here. It wavers at the angle the bed used to be. Where it was once was, at that angle, I watched the stars and moon. Now the moon is where the apple tree was. The radio has completely disappeared. A Mexican vase is there […]
Attention by Zachary Anthony
Attention by Zachary Anthony ATTENTION. Overwhelming, normally unconscious, Compulsion. You throw yourself out there. Was it worth it? Everyone is laughing at you. Everyone is cheering for you. Everyone is trying to empathize with you. But it feels wrong. Your outburst, Big or small. Even now, You want these words to be read. Is it […]
It’s her fault by John Steffen
It’s her fault by John Steffen Because of the moon Wife and I got in a fight when I dragged her outside to see the light tonight Because of the moon The light of night is not her interest, she said And I am just a fool, by her insistence and spite Because of the […]
Fourteen by Morgan Rae Glazier
Fourteen by Morgan Rae Glazier During a Sunday drive, our mother stopped our white Dodge Spirit at the base of the Harrisville hills. She snatched a chisel and hammer, from the Spirit’s storage, and said, wait here girls. For thirty minutes, my sister and I stared out the car window, our mother carving her and […]