in the red
nowhere to turn
from
a zero balance
Joanna Ashwell
the lost years
tightly packed away
out of sight
in case I crumble
beneath
the sorrow
Joanna Ashwell
no longer fitting
into my hometown
I wander around
unpacking the edges
of
loneliness
Joanna Ashwell
open door
just a slant of light
as
the sun sets
Eavonka Ettinger
the length
of kneading paws
my
catnap
Eavonka Ettinger
eucalyptus
shedding what's forgotten
Eavonka Ettinger
the muchness
of a rose garden
your
lips
Eavonka Ettinger
crashing thunder
doors bolted tight
against
ill omens
Stephanie Zepherelli
empty flower box
a mom and pop store
boarded
up
Stephanie Zepherelli
lonely path
looking for memories
i
never had
Stephanie Zepherelli
windy
day & night
I’m too tired to stay up
too anxious to
sleep
J. D. Nelson
she
gives me three words
to remember for the test
brush,
sunshine, & chair
J. D. Nelson
forgotten
coffee
no time to run back inside
before the bus comes
J.
D. Nelson
a rough day
I sit down
with
yesterday
Sharon Ferrante
calm night
I rest on a string
from
his guitar
Sharon Ferrante
I watch you
cut through smoke
changing
a small room
with
a saxophone
Sharon Ferrante
a flower does not talk
. . . and yet
this
fragrance
Robert Epstein
my shrinking life
I never did own
a
little black book
Robert Epstein
bee sting ––
I thought I knew you
better
than that
Robert Epstein
at home
snuggling in bed
with
the wrong book
Robert Epstein
old wooden bridge
how you keep me
hanging
on
Robert Epstein
spring wind
a bamboo hubbub
rubs
against the sky
Robert Witmer
a small boat
asleep in the waves
the
fisherman tracing stars
Robert Witmer
chiseled
from marble
the hand of a slave
Robert
Witmer
behind her eyes
so many rooms
a
breeze through rose curtains
Robert Witmer
broken mirror
a fractured self
stares
back
Nalini Shetty
city park
every bench has
its
own story
Nalini Shetty
Squinting
through pinholes in shoeboxes—
kindergarten
eclipse
M. R. Pelletier
Small talk—
he answers her questions
with one-word replies
M. R. Pelletier
sky in
the water
two moored boats
share the silence
Mile Lisica
I
close my eyes
to feel a little more
the depth of the sea
Mile Lisica
what is and isn’t the moon
behind stratocumulus clouds
Joshua St. Claire
end of greatness
winter
sun spent
among the hemlocks
Joshua St. Claire
tiny pebble
warmed by the memories
of
summer
C.X. Turner
morning sun
on a journey
of
becoming
C.X. Turner
bank
queue
stretching well beyond
the welcome sign
Maurice
Nevile
train station
the smokers lined
up
against the wall
Maurice Nevile
retired
he completes his profile
on
a dating site
Francoise Maurice
east wind
the yellow of dawn
at
the window
Francoise Maurice
the last songbird
on a mountaintop
singing
to the world
Stephen Jarrell Williams
empty railroad tracks
sunflowers reaching skyward
between
the steel rails
Stephen Jarrell Williams
midnight snowfall
the nonstop blaring
of
a car alarm
Chen-ou Liu
gathering shadows
ten more people ticketed
for
sleeping rough
Chen-ou Liu
cavern
walls—
humming a tune
from another time
Mark
Forrester
morning
mist
a few swans sleeping
on the pond—
still giving
each other
the silent treatment
Mark Forrester
turbulence
the art of
balancing
black coffee
Ravi Kiran
a second look
at the first impression
red
mushroom
Ravi Kiran
partial sight
his
life
in a goldfish bowl
Tony Williams
hailstorm—
my
hand stuck out
to feel the sting
Tony Williams
I took the dragon
by the tail held onto it
my compass
circle after circle in sand
it
drew me inward
Kathabela Wilson
pendulum swing
I let
the memory
heal
Manoj Sharma
office
window
the ascending aroma
from the alley bakery
Manoj
Sharma
long
night
the lonely baying
of a stray dog
Manoj Sharma
March
wind
a drifting leaf settles
on my shoulder
Manoj
Sharma
ancestral
well
remembering
my foremothers
Manoj Sharma