By John Sierpinski The beginning of an end Before I gave blood, the phlebotomist said, Your last name is misspelled on your driver’s license. Then at the dreaded DMV, passport in hand, a picture that doesn’t even look like now, anymore. The clerk telling me to wait while she checks with her supervisor. I watch … Continue reading Blood
A Cog in the Machine and Other Poems
By Claudia Wysocky A Cog in the Machine I am just a robot, A dull, lifeless piece of machinery, Programmed to follow simple algorithm. Life is not meant for me, I am merely a cog in the machine, Running on repeat and shutting down, —When the program ends— But I am more than their calibrations, … Continue reading A Cog in the Machine and Other Poems
Glass
By Olumide Holloway (King Olulu) It’s Glass Can't see it But can feel it The limits The restrictions And the rejections. Can't stop now Too late to turn back Too far gone And don't want a life of regrets. It’s Glass It talks and writes Sometimes it says NO Most times it is...silent But the … Continue reading Glass
Four Blood Drive Poems
By Duane Anderson Treats and Drinks You could say that I am a paid volunteer, not with money, but I get to eat all the same snacks, fruit juices, and water they offer to the donors after they have donated a pint of their blood. It is my morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack, six … Continue reading Four Blood Drive Poems
Fisher and Other Poems
By Annabel Reyes Fisher Nourishing focus: empty and hungry he gives us time.. searching alone with one worm on fishing line. Alone or with one another we... forage. Desperation for atonement, We tug on our rod. Questing and questioning incessantly we sit for our lessons..it takes time to mature to see that glorious sunset; there … Continue reading Fisher and Other Poems
Heat of Pearls and Other Poems
By Naveed Siddiqui Heat of Pearls I do not know, if I saved anything for you and I tonight everything slipped, falling away, dripping from my palms, those restless dreams now flow in orbits, alongside streams, walking among ocean beds, so immense, so are in its charms. Look at the stones, once collected, now leave … Continue reading Heat of Pearls and Other Poems
The Encounter
By Richard Edde The sun on my face was warm, gentle and the fall colors of the aspen trees and willows spectacular. I was fishing the Upper Gallatin River just outside Yellowstone Park when I rounded a bend and saw her. She had pulled a nice rainbow from a dark pool and he was doing extraordinary acrobatic … Continue reading The Encounter
Don’t Mind The Paparazzi
By Frank Vallorosi Previously published in The Whiskey Blot Johnny sat at the kitchen table, his right leg moving up and down as if someone had just dropped hot wax on it. He was an edgy person, a trait made more noticeable by his dark, darting eyes. He spotted his mother passing into the kitchen. … Continue reading Don’t Mind The Paparazzi
A Daughter’s Thoughts
By Meg Goldberg May 14, 2023 The 3rd Mother’s Day without my own Her life, snuffed out quietly amongst morphine drips and banned visitations felt extra tragic. 2020 be damned, she must have been so lonely! Overcome by strong emotions, harboring grief, I push it deep down into the darkness of my mind. She would … Continue reading A Daughter’s Thoughts
Before the Maroon King
By Vimal Patel You shall be a wanderer, It shall bless plague, This space will blend, Through mock, burden and legs. This shall be the fate, Of these kiss cursing beds, Forever on the heart, Of that scale shaking dale. Before Maroon king wanders, With a page, A tool of mockery, Then the bite of … Continue reading Before the Maroon King
Academy of the Heart And Mind 