By: Stephen Bett Heinrich Böll, Group Portrait with Lady (opening line; trans, Leila Vennewitz) The female protagonist… is a woman of forty-eight, German: she is five foot six inches tall, weighs 133 pounds (in indoor clothing), i.e., only twelve to…

By: Mahathi ONE MORE DAY It’s one past twelve. One more day passed away,not like a floating cloud with laze, nor likea rollercoaster fast with jolting sway.So dreary, like on a prosthetic leg to hike!I wish I paint my time…

By: Simon Heathcote “All you need is already within you, only you must approach your self with reverence and love. Self-condemnation and self-distrust are grievous errors. Your constant flight from pain and search for pleasure is a sign of love…

By: Matthew Borczon It comes with the job I wasat worklistening toJudy talkabout hertime asan aidin a nursinghome shewas sayingthat whenthey wereclose todying shenever wantedto workwith them because ifthey passedthe aidwould haveto cleanthe bodyand shejust couldnot do that It is…

By: April Mae Berza The Goddess of Books and the Singer-Songwriter (For Dale) I am but a goddess of books, books welcoming you with my loveliest chapters,the soul of eternal words and finite worlds. You are a mortal, a singer-songwriter,…

By: The Rhapsodist EVERY GIRL-CHILD IS A PETAL OF WITHERED FLOWERS There were nights I saw my sister eating herFingernails, drinking from her teardrops as theyRolled down her eyes, down her cheeks_ intoHer mouth. She would stay awake all night,…

By: Ian C Smith She says something about money.  Wary as a sidestepping crow, I know I should pay attention after cowering from her furious silences.  Nightfall, wind creaking in the cracks, scenes from our fenestrated past blind turn around…

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…