By Judith Cody Holiday Cityscapes Ringing of the Salvation Army bells on the snowy street corner, hunched as if bent body repels freezing wind for long hours at the copper kettle for the poor, the lonely bell sounds through the crowds of shoppers anxiously scurrying from door to door where a bit of warmth seeps … Continue reading Holiday Cityscapes and Other Poems
The Zoo and Other Poems
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
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
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
Getting On and Other Poems
By Anthony Ward Getting On As we grow older, We become firmer. Rigid with responsibility- Making us brittle. When you’re young, You’re soft and ductile. You don’t feel hurt The way we do. Where we were once quite agile, We’re now quite fragile, Much stronger in mind, Than when we believed we were. A Fine … Continue reading Getting On and Other Poems
Emptied of Desire and Other Poems
By Richard LeDue Emptied of Desire The dark circles under my eyes are hallow, the pillow a sponge for my sweat, blankets too easily pulled away in the middle of the night, and the dream journal from my youth full of crooked words, describing eyelids that dared to take shape among the space between stars, … Continue reading Emptied of Desire and Other Poems
Academy of the Heart And Mind 