By: Jim Bates Awesome bright wonderJupiter and Venus shineLighting the deep night. Summertime soft rainFalling on thirsty gardensPlants drink joyfully. This home of the soulThese bricks of good memoriesThis mortar of love. Big Bluestem prairieWind racing through wildflowersSea of grass…

By: Pramod Rastogi The Land of Cuckoo I pay a visit to the Alps long overdueWhere in a hut live my cousins so true,Awaiting in awe my visit impromptu. They are born wizards of the flame issueWho love to light…

By: Gregg Norman Face off, feet off the floor,lying on leather reclined,only the words keeping mefrom falling throughinto another dimension.Words underlinedbetween the linesby sunlight real and realized,lamplight fake and faded,bright to brighter too bright,as the sun falls dyingand darkness floods…

By: Kim Farleigh Platform lights illuminated her pleased eyes as she entered the dark compartment that Jones had entered without paying for a full-price ticket. She removed a glossy magazine from a bag. Her pink top, white jeans, cream shoes,…

By: Bruce Levine The Next Plateau Roads taken Following twists and turns Roads less taken Often straight But often less scenic With fewer variables Fewer variations Fewer vistas Fewer paths to the next plateau Trials and tribulations A sing-song melody…

By: Sarah Mahina Calvello These Colors All these colors,Combed and spunInto fine spiralsOf cotton candyDying the skyWith a stretching sigh Morning roseCovers everythingWith a patient brightness Another dayOf rise and fall— The Postcard For Michael Calvello Take me to the…

By: Cynthia Pitman Ars Longa to Isaac The weary artist, long unknown,made his way down the hidden pathto the forbidden lake.There he abandoned his brusheson the shoreand knelt by the water’s edgeto rinse his pallet one last time.As the colors…

By: Mike Turner The cold rain of ageWashes away nostalgiaLeaving only regret Poignant memoriesLike a relentless high tideSlowly submerge me In the past’s sad depthsLie yesterday’s reflectionsQuietly weeping

By: David Sapp Rather Warm Rather warmI’m certainYou’d agreeWe’ve fiddled aroundFor far too longNow everyoneWatches RomeEverything everywhereBurning brightlyNeedlessly thoroughlyAnd you and IWe are all NeroMindlessly pluckingStrumming hummingCatchy tunesIn our comfy airConditioned apocalypse There’s Brutality There’s brutalityOn the front pageAbove the…

By Taylor Dibbert Nothing breaksA marriageQuite likeA midlife crisis. ### Taylor Dibbert is a writer, journalist, and poet in Washington, DC. “Rescue Dog,” his fourth full-length poetry collection, was published in May.