love letter
his promises
paper-thin
Jackie Chou
you are my roots
holding me to grounds
my flower
adding colours to my life
and fragrance to soul
Ram Chandran
my mother
remembered
for her better days
the brief blooming
of cactus flowers
Jackie Chou
seasonings
reside
in mama's apron -
coriander soup
her welcome note
Bidyutprabha
Gantayay
awaking
to an orange sunrise
do dreams
turn into pumpkins
if
left unwritten
Jackie Chou
blue steel
the sharp edge
of sorrow
Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
Unconditional
dog's
gaze ...
not a single bit of
uncertainty
wagging
tail
without the slightest
doubt
afternoon
sunbeams
past the fallen oak ...
wildflowers sprouting
B.A. France
winter wind
the trees speak
a harsh language
Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
in a vacant city
does a bullet still
demolish souls
ask the stars if
their shine was split
without consent
Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
long ago
a deserted forest
became my first lover
what other rooms
could you find within
your darkest abode
Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
shadows dancing
goldenrod under the weight
of a chickadee
Susan Bonk Plumridge
are rubies
simply fragments
of forgotten dreams
it is possible
that we once lived
as the dust between sand
Tiffany
Shaw-Diaz
The taste of sloe gin
underneath the blackthorn boughs—
a
blossom-veiled moon.
Pippa Phillips
Poppy Seeds
swearing
right hands raised ...
lone veteran salutes
packing bags
called again
peace and war
silently
walking
arlington cemetery
— old rose garden
B.A. France
used-book store
its dusty true-crime section
covered with fingerprints
John J. Dunphy
I sense
the coin is cursed
(evil witch)
so I pick it up to pocket
being a believer in fairy tales
Roberta Beach Jacobson
homeless encampment
returning children share
their trick or treat candy
John J. Dunphy
lockdown...
but you never said
i couldn’t
travel the world
within my mind
Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
bird returns
as dusk gently falls
twinkle stars
in reeling silence
deepen her loneliness
Pravat Kumar Padhy
sometimes
the only thing
i know to be true
is that the sun has risen
somewhere
brightly in our sky
Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
eating dinner
crosslegged by the screen door
listening to crickets
Susan Bonk Plumridge
this piece of amethyst
i hold in my hand
what secrets
have you kept
during your long life
Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
her cloth
soaked with tears…
on the edge
of curled green leaf
the burden of the heavy rains
Pravat Kumar Padhy
croaking crow:
you scold me as if
I were to blame,
as if I were the cause
of your hidden sorrow
Bill Waters