By: Ruth Z. Deming After a dinner of thawed pepperoni pizza, fingerlickin baby carrots and a carton of strawberry milk, he began his pleas. Mom! Dad! Please. Please, lemme ride my scooter round the bend and I never, I promise…
By: Jim Bates Meadowlark on a telephone wireYellow breast feathers shining brightlyBackyard summertime sunPausing from a game of catch listeningThe trilling song of wonder filling the airThe boy smiledHe tossed his younger brother the baseball and set his mitt down“What’s…
By Karen Lee Stradford Black Cadillac Daddy’s gone.The scent of his colognestill lingersas I enter,4-door Deville sitsin the cold garagewaiting to ride again.Tank full of gas,dusty hoodreadyto see the road. Glove compartmentpacked withCDs and tissues,masks in the console.Las Vegas hat…
By: Michael Craig Living Anguish A Loss so unfair worse the life left in total despair Silently in the night or on the busiest of days Unrelenting this fatal pain a true love sustains An emptiness no one can fill,…
By: James Aitchison Take refuge in the eternal.It is not complex.Ignore the world around you;it is not your time and place,it is impermanent.I am the eternal voicethat speaks to all men,in every one of their stages.You have been given a…
By: Mary Bone Blood Suckers I carried them through deep brushand high grass.My paws try to scratch them out of my fur.Ticks and fleas drain my energy.A flea collar was attached to my neck.This was my only relief froman onslaught…
By: KJ Hannah Greenberg The Junction of Wisdom and Words Given crucial, cultural states of affairs, moppets acquire inadequate guidance onProviding vocabulary suitable to denote their desires for dolls, trucks, lollies, etc.Big people oft ignore all utilitarian similitude, including kids’…
By: Ruth Deming Hot outside as a panting dog with tongue Hanging out I pour myself 2 glasses of pure water And set out down the street. The neighbors on this fancy street called Cowbell have no idea I almost…
By: Carl Papa Palmer Gone Missing As the new day awaits its morning sun,the blank page for my poem also waits. In stillness I listen for an inner voice,only to hear a deep silence in my ears. Ends end from…
By: Karen O’Leary 3 trips to the ERafter mandatoryvisits with dad.Each ER visitdocuments bruises~~a pawn of divorce.Mom can’t find help.Despite the reports,Social Services ignoresconcerns as “overblown.”“Boys get bruises,”unwilling to protectthis child. He leaves,looking numb. Two weeks later,an ambulance requestsa pediatric…