By: JayM Ode To Passion My worst arguments are with my own mind,To pave the way for my best words for you;Words of enchantment give themselves up,To that your beauty creates, to you. Indelible prints of ardour, upon my mind,A…

By: Stephen Kingsnorth Sanga Wrap, face, skin reflecting pile pineapples,toothy sarong fruit vendorssentry corners, slow spiral screwto mountains drag-drawn from flatland haze.Lushed tier paddies, suspended tanks,glitter dun-lime battle grounds,side-step from trunked trunk haulers,gross chink-link necklaces,chained to logs and bored mahouts;noising…

By Dawn DeBraal She looked away when she saw the woman and her child picking through the dumpster. It hurt too much to see that. She wanted to help but, how could she? The little boy in rain boots held…

By: Nadia Benjelloun A Justifiable Fear, or a Melodrama? There is no doubt that there ever was as violent of an outbreak as covid-19. Or is that just what we are made to believe? It seems we have all gone…

By: James Bates Even though he hadn’t left his house that day, nor had he for the more than three years since his beloved wife had passed away, here’s what Bob Anderson wrote later that night:             ‘I lay under…

By: Brian Rihlmann WRONG I sit with the sun at my backand stare at my shadowits hair movesits shoulders rise and fallafter awhile the thought enters—the shadow’s not meany more than the sun is a while longerand the sun disappearsbehind…

By: J.K.Durick Spine – Xray ### Bookmark by Gavin a grandnephew once removedis gone but this gift,given I don’t remember when,remains. His name written in childish lettersand some coloring are all that’s leftof the moment – it marks his placemy…

By: Theresa C. Gaynord RED CINNABAR Discard my clothes, my glamorous spoilsand fate me before the dispossessedfar removed from my gowns of tulle andspangles. Walk me toward the peak of the mountain,strip me of my name as I watch the…

By Beatriz Cicci Ms. Maureen Campbell was proud to attest and confirm with confidence that, throughout her 72 years of life, she had only kissed whom she had ratified to be totally and completely in love with. When inquired in…

By: Don Thompson Pioneer Cemetery These tottering gravestones remainunexpectedly whiteafter all sorts of weather—unlike the bones buried here.They’re gray going black by now,blotched with off-greenlike moss on the wooden markersworn nameless years ago. ** Inflation Spendthrift wind strips the trees,scattering…