By Jake Price The Zoo A flamboyance of flamingos eat shrimp out of the hands of a zookeeper. While the birds are distracted, someone else collects eggs. - The next day around breakfast time, the flamingos get their weekly wing clipping so they can’t fly away. Pink yolks sizzle in a frying pan and get … Continue reading The Zoo and Other Poems
people say they hate books
By Neo Yee snow-white pages that crackle under fluorescent bulb words which threaten to escape their prison people say they hate books but they have never had a hard-backed tome flush against their side, leathery door to another world they have never read a book so many times that the tea-stained sheets are halfway gone, … Continue reading people say they hate books
And He Wondered
By Charles Wiegand White steam suddenly began billowing out from under the hood. He pulled over to the side of the road and parked the troubled car in the gravel. He sat there for a moment without moving, then turned off the engine and slowly got out of the car. He stood outside the car … Continue reading And He Wondered
A Safari Through My Closet
By Joan Mach Ladies and gentlemen, on your left you see the Joan Mach Clothing Wilderness. For your own safety, please keep your hands and heads inside the vehicle at all times. This wilderness was formed when the clothing rod in Joan’s spacious walk-in closet broke while she was on vacation. When she returned, the … Continue reading A Safari Through My Closet
Teach Us, O Nature
By Mike Turner The stars in the firmament Teach us to shine a light In the face of darkness The trees in the storm Teach us to bend to the wind But not break The sun rising in the east Teaches us that a new day always comes After darkest night And the shells upon … Continue reading Teach Us, O Nature
Borborygmi and Other Poems
By Ken Gosse Borborygmi [Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day for July 5th, 2022: “rumbling or gurgling sounds caused by the movement of gas in the intestines”] They’re called borborygmi (the word rhymes with pygmy); not merely a figmy of imaginigmy, and come from a natural cause. They’re powerful sources which our gut endorses as we … Continue reading Borborygmi and Other Poems
Chain-smoker in Blue Jeans
By Mason Yates For Korbin Ratner, the rural Illinois town Oakdale Ferry could not end its day unless the cotton candy sky melted blue and pink together, or his girlfriend, Tiffany Earman, drove him to the small mom and pop gas station uptown, where he worked overnight as a cashier. On this particular evening, both … Continue reading Chain-smoker in Blue Jeans
Karaoke and Horticulture
By Peter Mladinic Karaoke Backyard sun and shadows and birds chirping takes me back to one birthday winter night at the Texas Lounge. We took turns at karaoke. At the mic I was attempting “Bernadette” as sung by the Four Tops. Shots of courage I’d gotten from the bar didn’t prevent my voice’s faltering, uncertain … Continue reading Karaoke and Horticulture
as insignificant walks & waltz and Other Poems
By Jen Schneider as insignificance walks & waltzes i used to walk at night only after the weight of the day’s work had lifted now i walk at night because only the sky reminds me that none of that work matters Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/12/james-webb-space-telescope-photos-explanation/ a ___ reasons to wish upon a star a billion -- divided … Continue reading as insignificant walks & waltz and Other Poems
A Homeless Man and Other Poems
By Mike Neville A Homeless Man There is a homeless man just wandering the streets… You think this is no one that you care to meet… He walks up and down the streets all day… And you wonder where at night does he stay… He may live in a his car or in a camp … Continue reading A Homeless Man and Other Poems
Academy of the Heart And Mind 