By Karen Lee Stradford Guest of Honor We hasten to the lobby,Coats hang on armswaiting to get checked in.A hostess directs us to the ballroom,large purple and goldlatex balloons swayin opposite directions.Rectangular tablesset in rowswith padded chairs. The smells offried…

By: Pardee Lowe, Jr. DA CAPO When I was youngAnd poems were strangeI ventured to inquireHow, poet, do words upon the page catch fire? Write, then, write, came the reply,And some day you will know. And so through the years, now,I have…

By: Daniel de Culla DESCENT TO THE BEACH Children are already going down to the beachEarthy sand next to the Cantabrian sea.They proclaim joy in their walkGlory and happiness of finding the best placeTo put chairs, mats, towelsTentWhere to dig…

By: Bruce Levine Cool crisp autumn airInvigorating the soulNature’s golden days Glories yet unknownHidden in happy momentsFall retains its joy Cooler days surroundNow emptying the remnantsOf life’s lethargy Lovely clothes of fallAwakening the mem’riesHappy times ahead Summer winds recedeTime for…

By: Ray Whitaker A TIMEPIECE I ask myself-it is a question thatI wake up with if we all go together,and the past isso distant as to be unseen those that pull us apartseem ‘way over therethat their influence seems subtle…

By: Anthony David Vernon Lost Count In Tulsa What’s the amount?There are plenty of waysTo count and count…& 3$ LaysI was running some numbers at the 7-11Thought I texted everybody on their birthdaysBut was off by twenty days *** Losing…

By Mary Bone Haunted Love Our eyes met across a crowded room.You had smoky azure tints with a gleam,reminding me of a blustery sky.I had never known such intensity.Today I am still haunted by our love.We have traveled light years…

By: Lorraine Caputo NEW YEAR DELAYED After yet-another-all-day rain, the Old Man Years cannot be set aflame. They are tossed in the trash, to be drowned in the yet-another-all-night shower in the midnight hour painted with fireworks sizzling in the…

By: Kindaka Jamal Sanders To Grieve and to Love To grieveAnd to love.To believeand to fail.As we grieve for the world,Who grievesfor the children in us?As we believe in the world.Who will believe in the realness in us?To be deceived And still…

By: Brian Michael Barbeito Cabbie  He drives through the highways and the inner roads. He is older now, and lived in Michigan. In fact, Michigan must have been his hey day, speaking colloquially, for he mentions it a lot. We…