By Dominic Moore Faces shout my nameentering the place I played center stagebut now I perform in the audience.Rainy drive homeand a silent kiss on the cheekare my accompanying thoughts at curtain call.The walk upstairs grows longer, eventuallyreaching to the damp clothesthat have sat too long in the wash.Fistfuls of fabric enter the dryermy last … Continue reading switching laundry at 12:09am
For My Mother
By Okereke Emmanuel Chibuike A woman with fire—not just in her eyes,but in her bones,in every breath she burns for the ones she loves.My mother.My mother, my pride.My lighthouse when the tides got high.She stayed for me—when the world turned cold,when it whispered lies and slammed its doors,she stood,unshaken.No applause, no trophies,just cracked hands and … Continue reading For My Mother
Five Summer Haiku
By Jim Bates Northern Lights glowingSoft waves shimmering like dreamsWaiting to come true.Morning rain fallingSoggy wet flower headsBend in silent thanks.Early morning lightFlowers nodding in the dawnSerene peaceful calm.Aunt and Uncle's cabinOn a lake overflowingWith good memories.Thankful for flowersTheir color so enrichingTheir beauty such joy. Jim lives in a small-town twenty miles west of Minneapolis, … Continue reading Five Summer Haiku
Where the doves come to cry
By Oceanika Pandey They said, “We fight to end the fight,” To make the dawn outshine the night, They sent the ones with steady hands, To bleed upon foreign lands; But have you forgotten that they are too the children of mothers who never knew that peace is but a mere facade, Built on graves … Continue reading Where the doves come to cry
Reading at the Parlor
By Ken Gosse They decided the Reaper was truly a keeper,his poetry earning their membership’s yearning,a group which would meet once their days were completeyet before their last showing, while tears were still flowing.The prep nearly finished, with hopes undiminishedthat they’d read again to a group with a yenfor their poetry’s call which would clearly … Continue reading Reading at the Parlor
Nomenclature
By Richard Weaver Blue mountains rising, century after centuryawakening to fall again. To rise anew, yearning for a hand like rain waking from sleep, after dreaming in green water blackening beneath cypresses. A drowned moon afloat in its troubles. And hills of brazen angels. Blue mountains reigning. His first published poem appeared in Poetry Magazine … Continue reading Nomenclature
The Shape of Love
By Hossein Hakim Love is the longing to simply be near,To feel their presence when they're not here.A whisper missed, a silent room—Yet in your heart, their flowers bloom.Love is the pull of a gentle embrace,The ache in your arms for a familiar face.A brush of fingers, a warming skin,A quiet fire that glows within.Love … Continue reading The Shape of Love
Mulţumesc
By Kaleb M Dufel Morning comesSleep finally did.She wakes me with thevoice of the old worldthe voice that carried with her a dream-a dream i’ve woken up from.We eat breakfast togetherI can’t bear to eat with the others.She tells me about her homeI welcome her to mine.Later, I dance along an ivory street dotted with … Continue reading Mulţumesc
the desperation of neat little boxes
By Kevin Scheepers The desperation of neat little boxes,The despair of perfect labels;Stable entities that dare not change without prior notice.A moth disinterested in distinguishing simulacra from simulacrum,The dragon could not take such liberties.The unintentional incantations you utter,Billets-doux to yourself, remaining unanswered.Couldn't reach you over there on planet apathy,Burnt the curtains for warmth; a useful … Continue reading the desperation of neat little boxes
The paper lantern
By Irene Clarke The paper lantern was filled with love, as it floated in the sky,All her tears were falling, as she watched her memories fly.Would the lantern reach the place, where he said he’d wait for her?She wasn’t sure about anything, the last few days a blur.There were people all around her to wish … Continue reading The paper lantern
Academy of the Heart And Mind 