By Colette Kern

the world's unrest—

numbing myself

with word games

Colette Kern

By Sarah Paris

spring rain

green traffic lights

in a puddle

Sarah Paris

after the storm

a skeleton tree cradles

dawn


Sarah Paris

By Ida Wiesenfeld

Skimming the waters,

The dragonfly,

Steals the water’s moon.

Ida Wiesenfeld

Touchstone Award Nominations (January through April 2024)

Announcing the Touchstone Award nominations from CMJ:

traffic slows

I move the dead rabbit

to safety

Tom Clausen

if peace

were a sound

snow angels

C.X. Turner

my inner bear

begins to hibernate

cold moon

Alfred Booth

a leafless tree

raises arms to the sky

praying for peace

Neena Singh

grunting

I try not to be an animal

but I am

Tony Williams

it could be winter or it could be worse

Robert Epstein

periodic table

the stars that flow

through us

Eugeniusz Zacharski

power outage

learning the shapes

of familiar things

Helen Ogden

his first recital

a round of applause

for all the pink

Barrie Levine

claiming the American dream an American gun

Susan Yavaniski

windstorm

reading a letter

not meant for me

Ruth Holzer

By Nicola Schaum

the deaf cat sees, I listen

summer rain

Nicola Schaum

cloud spotting my troubles shifting shape

Nicola Schaum

 

termite tango

drifting wings

glisten at dusk

Nicola Schaum

By Mallika Chari

overcast sky

nothing to do, she watches

the cawing crow

Mallika Chari

continuous drizzle

the street vendor’s restlessness

all day long

Mallika Chari

prayer

we repeat it

in our mother tongue

 

Mallika Chari

By Helen Ogden

biding its time

a poppy bud

about to bloom

Helen Ogden

folding laundry

the odd sock

set aside

Helen Ogden

condolences

the heavy weight

of empty space

Helen Ogden

leap day

keeping pace

with the planets

 

Helen Ogden

By Matthew Markworth

working

for peanuts

songbird

Matthew Markworth

By Anne Morrigan

distracted

by the sunlight dancing

off my phone


Anne Morrigan

By John Zheng

 

delta life so flat i often look up at the sky

John Zheng

By Anthony Lusardi

waiting

for the storm to pass . . .

counting seconds

between the flash

and the boom

Anthony Lusardi