By Jessica Ursell when red deer antlers poke through the hardwood floorthat’s a signal I can’t ignorereminding me I can walk through walls of words into a poem of Japanese cherry blossomsand emerald birdspink tufts of poufy fluff surrounds the soft grass strewnwith rich coffee groundsmingling scents sweet and hearty gazing across the verdant carpetI … Continue reading I Can Walk Through Walls of Words
An Abandoned Farmhouse on a Forest Trail
By John Grey Cramped rooms,small windows,grimy crumbling fireplaceand, in the attic,old mattresses for children’s beds –this wasn’t a houseof ease and comfort.Cupboards tinyin anticipationof limited provisions,a few rotted turnipsin a dank root cellarfields given up to snowand a barn tilted to one side –no great expectation anywhere,merely the signs of a limited survival.Here in the … Continue reading An Abandoned Farmhouse on a Forest Trail
The Man on the Flying Frontier
By Ken Gosse A flat-earth explorer had made his last pledgeto persist with his search from a great flying sledgetied beneath a balloonwhich he sailed to the Moon,but his boot was untiedso the first step he triedmeant one short trip for man sent him over the edge. Ken Gosse usually writes short, rhymed verse using whimsy and … Continue reading The Man on the Flying Frontier
The Tide
By Pauline Olthof-Youn The tide, in and outLike a beating heart pumpingIn rhythm, with you Pauline Olthof-Youn is an English teacher for at risk students who enjoys writing poems in her free time. This year she challenged herself by participating in the 12 hour poetry marathon. She also loves spending time with her family travelling … Continue reading The Tide
At First Frost
By Mary Bone At first frostpecans fell from trees.I filled up my pail.The leaves had fallenleaving a stark reminderthe harvest was over. Mary Bone's poetry has appeared at Academy of the Heart and Mind, Poetry Catalog Highland Park Poetry, Lothlorien Poetry Journal and other places.
The Naughty List
By Duane Anderson The state highway department posted the message:“Not wearing seat belts? I’m telling Santa,”but I tell them, go ahead, tell Santa,for Santa hasn’t visited me in ages.I was already on his naughty list,but since I was already wearing a seat belt,there was no reason to tell Santa that I was being good,so there … Continue reading The Naughty List
Retirement
By Anthony Ward My line of country’s now an island,Cut off from the mainland,As I watch them going about their lives Like clockwork,Thoughts ticking like a pendulum,Swinging one way- Then the other- In synch,Never having time to themselves.While I remain hereWith all the time in the world And nothing to do with it.Having worked towards … Continue reading Retirement
Early Morning Stillness
By Brenda Mox As fortune passed its meridian,the moon shut herselfwithin her chamber,girdling the great hill hollowwhere greenness grew over brown bedsrich in verdure shadows,giving force and fixednessto new impressions.From a cerulean skyuniformly clear of cloudsor evil feeling,the sun drank dew dropsfrom light illumined orchard treeswhile early morning stillnessslumbered everywhere. Brenda Mox is a poet … Continue reading Early Morning Stillness
The Fish Store
By Erica Macri My grandfather wants fancy tail guppies: three male, two female. I get in the car with Joe, his dutiful son and my father, and before I can blink, he speeds onto the Long Island Expressway. Joe is talking about fish, positing that the females of the species have the fancy tails. I … Continue reading The Fish Store
Submerged Values
By Thomas E. Simmons Released in 1997, Titanic1 casts massive shadows. The film’s title mimics the gargantuan scale of the eponymous ocean liner herself (displacing 52,000 tons), the scope of her disastrous finish (the deadliest peacetime ship-sinking in history), and the film’s swollen budget (at $200 million, the most expensive film ever made at the … Continue reading Submerged Values
Academy of the Heart And Mind 