By Jim Bates After the snowstormWinter's soft gentle beautySnow on evergreens.At the skating rinkHappy folks spin and swirlA winter ballet.Big cold moon risingMoonlight streaming brilliantlyIcy land sparkling.Bright morning sunBirds flit through snow covered treesSinging merrily. Jim lives in a small town twenty miles west of Minneapolis, Minnesota. His stories have appeared online in CafeLit, The Writers' Cafe … Continue reading Four Winter Haiku
Bravado
By Anthony David Vernon The measure of a man is respectWeighted in how he fights for his womanAnd how he earns his keepAt least that’s what my brother told meMan is expected respectSo he cannot back down from a burden placed before himBut the weight is so much to bareAnd it seems easier and kinderTo … Continue reading Bravado
My Poetry is Blue
By Mike Turner My poetry is blueLike the vaulting summer skyFleecy clouds and warming sunThe winds on which to flyMy poetry is blueLike the bounding, endless seaSails of white and gold beach sandsCast off, and voyaging freeMy poetry is blueLike the depths of wan despairThough faith, longing, endurance, hopeGive us some comfort thereMy poetry is … Continue reading My Poetry is Blue
In My Own Little World
By Samanyu Kotha In my own little world,Exiled by my mind,Into the depths of imagination,Here I lie beyond time and space,I rest in a limbo, without a trace,I think I’m so strong,So powerful and all-knowing,Little do I know that I’m fooling myself,You’re insane they say,Get a better hobby,Here in my mind,I seek to be surreal,What … Continue reading In My Own Little World
Silence Deeper Than Words
By Richard LeDue The voices from my youth,which I believed would never change,nor sink in the silence deeper than words one calls a poem,are gone now, dispelled like doubtthat keeps a person from saying wordsbeyond a polite hello,and the cricket songs from past summer nightsmake poor metaphors for timelessness,even if eight hours of sleep finds … Continue reading Silence Deeper Than Words
In My Will
By Michael Lee Johnson In my will, there will be a pinball machine.A renovated jukebox from American Pickers,a cable TV show. For the taverns, bars, and basements of fun seekers for thosewho long to be free and ferocious.I no longer fear death.Empty vodka bottle by my bed.A dusty Bible underlinedJesus’ messages in red. Michael Lee … Continue reading In My Will
Winter Competition Poetry Winner: “blizzard” by Jennifer Choi
a flock of bald eagles descends, swooping down from the northern sky, crashing onto asphalt roads, refracting streetlight beams. with sharp talons, they tear roofs apart, … Continue reading Winter Competition Poetry Winner: “blizzard” by Jennifer Choi
Christmas Telescope
By Fred Donovan Somewhere between Venus and Arcturus, my daughter and I squint to seethe comet that will not returnfor 80,000 years, give or take a millennium.But the supermoon drownsthe comet’s dim light,and clouds move in to ensurethe failed viewing. “We’ll see it whenit comes back,” I joke. She is not amused.“Maybe we can catch … Continue reading Christmas Telescope
Puppy Love
By Sarah Rosenblatt My puppy is in love with each of the humansin the house.She’s also in love with the momentthat rises up, filled with its mitzvahs. It then departs like a friendwe don’t want to leave. And you see once you take love from an animal and give some back:you are making a lifelong … Continue reading Puppy Love
Evidence
By Jennifer Choi things that are already too broken to fix,& the moment you touch them,they fall apart even more—objects that crumble at the slightest pull.today, a city breaks,today, a house,today, a family,today, a mother,today, a father.in the stationery shop, Nana twinklesfrom inside her little box.the doll my mother made has tangled hair,its neck stiff … Continue reading Evidence
Academy of the Heart And Mind 