By: Jim Bates Springtime misting rainTender garden shoots reachingThirstily drinking. Finch and CardinalSinging songs of sunny joyMusic for the soul. Apple tree bloomingLazy sunshine drifting throughCanopy of calm. Tree Swallow flyingAerial acrobaticsCarnival of flight.
By: Virginia Aronson Kitchen Pirate (Anthony Bourdain, 1956-2018) If I’m unhappy,it’s a failureof imagination. The epitome of coolmen wanted to be himwomen wanted to bed himbooze and smoking and agelooked good on himeveryone knewhis craggy facehis TV showshis deep-felt loveof…
By: James Aitchison Is life day or night? Is new blood morevaluable than old? Is there any soil more sacredthan the soul in which to plantlove and truth? Is what we leave behindmore important thanwhat we have taken? Smooth is…
By: Carl Papa Palmer Hooked Kristy sent an email, said click this linkfilling my screen with a YouTube videoof a fish in a fishbowl for nine secondsbefore flashing to view kites crashing. Watching, fascinated, fixated, besiegedby nine second clips of…
By: Abubakar Auwal ecdysis of green flowers finalist BKPW Contesthere— an image of motherland is tuned from the rhythmof our greened fur; a convolvulus one, taking flightto where we plant our names, flower the smiles of gods & metaphorsinto anything…
By: Craig Kirchner Pointe Standing in attitude modeon the head of a pin,time speeds up as it stills,seconds pass like decades,handshakes become relationships,a blade of grass, a lawn,the lawn framing the reflecting pool,at the Taj Mahal. Balanced between breaths,a wink…
By: Richard LeDue The poem I never wrote would have been detailed(margins overcrowded as homeless shelters,words lined up like they’re waitingto cash cheques in a digital age),but it’s okay because at least in the backseatthere’s a grocery store bouquet of…
By: James Aitchison Accept your path andsee the way.Examine your inner self,abandoning fears and barriers.Retain your objectivity,remain dispassionate.Help others withoutbecoming involved in their lives.See them as you would a painting,examine the composition,their emotional colours,and move on.Acceptance is trust.When you trust,there…
By: T.F. Jennings Infinite Blue I don’t understand any of it.The moon, the ocean, this spinning rock. You name it. We sit overlooking the coastline high up on a knollthat was made seemingly just for us. The sun hangs in…
By: Dominic Moore prop closet Pick a book off the shelfand check if it still bangs.Rattle a story to seeif it still has life in itand turn the pageif it still has light.The heart of an actorexists only in what…









