By LaVern Spencer McCarthy Life’s Special Blessings Originally published in Poetry Society of Texas Book of the Year I do not need a keg of gold, or diamonds in a velvet case. I only crave a mockingbird that leads me to a peaceful place along the reaches of my soul no thief can steal, or … Continue reading Life’s Special Blessings and Other Poems
Blood on the Cat’s Neck and Other Poems
By Drew Pisarra Blood on the Cat’s Neck Originally published in Poydras Review Coughing is the language of death with its hacks, rasps and swallows as distinctly out there as the clickity tock of Xhosa or the sonic singing of whales at sea. Yet what is Death telling us when it speaks so abruptly? Is … Continue reading Blood on the Cat’s Neck and Other Poems
Samhain and All Shall Be Well
By Helen Jones Samhain This is the night the dead come home. The veil between the worlds is torn, Old, tattered flag, Flaps in the wind. They brush the rags aside, Curling like smoke through time To sit and eat with those they left behind. I peer into the shadows, Sit and wait, Each nerve … Continue reading Samhain and All Shall Be Well
The bittersweet whisper of hope
By Anonymous The butterfly around the flame Ashes of hope everywhere In a room locked in my heart In a room in my mind sealed away These along a rainbow waving its colors on the wall Were all of me in the past days Since I heard from the wind That you were still breathing … Continue reading The bittersweet whisper of hope
Crash
By Michael Barrington There were bodies everywhere. Both platforms at the London underground station were littered with injured people, screaming, bleeding, pleading for help. Some had scrambled out of the wreckage crying, dazed, in shock and disorientated. Doctors, police, firefighters, and emergency crews were engaged in dealing with the largest disaster to ever occur on … Continue reading Crash
Ripples and Other Poems
By Sam Barbee Ripples I bait a hook, dunk it like a kiss. Plunk disperses a concentric splash. Each surge of the lake reminds any visitor the loch measures each splay or lap. What creature will break its water next? Frog hop or ducks’ paddle? Mallards glide confident, and rebuke the clouded origin of turtles … Continue reading Ripples and Other Poems
Derelict – A Timeslip Tale
By Andrew Evans "Don't go past the fence Jerry, you know what happens." Said Kirsty pensively. They were sat again outside the old vinyl shop, sipping lemonade from stripey cans. "I won't, I just want to see the 'Planes going over. I saw one from Saudia Arabia the other day and one from 'Olland. You … Continue reading Derelict – A Timeslip Tale
A Chip Off
By Craig Dobson Fiona is sitting with her back to the window, a semi-silhouette against the village’s winding main street. The weather has been hot for days. Farm machinery blunders along the narrow lanes, great round bales balanced precariously on splayed trailers. Wisps of straw litter the hedgerows and pavements. In the warm evenings, check-shirted … Continue reading A Chip Off
The Friend
By Sharon Farnsworth And the race begins. Another Friday afternoon, and city traffic was horrific. I picked up my son from daycare and joined the throng of manic drivers, my thoughts racing faster than the traffic was moving. Forty plus hours as a Probation Officer, and I was on overload. The windshield wipers whacking the glass in a … Continue reading The Friend
Academy of the Heart And Mind 