By Alex Andy Phuong A romantic retreatCan be a real treat,Especially since A sense of passionPuts love into action,And fall under the spellOf wishes from a wishing well,For time will tellIf love could withstandThe test of time,And never underestimate How love is sublime,And the way toAppreciate todayComes from the loss of hate,So choose to love … Continue reading Under the Spell of Love
On the night I had hot dogs and baked beans for dinner
By Susan Kolon Previously published in Gnashing Teeth Publishing's September 2024 issue It was your birthday, little sister. You got a new bike, sheened in lustful boysenberry, tassels hanging from sky-high handlebarsand I was jealous. You let me boss you when we played, I had tobeat you, always. One night I staged a race, hurried … Continue reading On the night I had hot dogs and baked beans for dinner
Seasons of Change
By Casper Orr Cycles encapsulate a multitude of things;the seasons, circles of the lives of monarchs,and my unstable self-image,ever-changing with the yellow leaves in autumn.Cycles bring change.If the whisper of it from past my shoulder did not paralyze me,I’d be in several different places at once, scattered in winter squalls.Change surges waves of intrusions into … Continue reading Seasons of Change
Believe… The Heart Must Know
By Heymy Patiño Martínez While in México, my mother sent my father photo booth photographs. Of us. Of her. Border separation, steel fenced. Erected, engineered to digitize the family. In school kids tell us we are weird. Not because we are, but because we are fatherless. Left. Alone. No head of household.I was born truly … Continue reading Believe… The Heart Must Know
Sun Crossing
By Frances Leitch SUN SONG In the Sun Songthe swallows flytwo abreastCutting across the skyThe bubbling brookdances on mossy rocksPlaying endlesslythe tune of laughterBuck and doeCross green grassin the meadowAnd butterfliesSpread their wings to the sunWarm themselvesand then are goneSun Song Summertime So light and fullBillowy white cloudsRoam across The sky of blueUpturned faces of … Continue reading Sun Crossing
Anchor
By Ashby Neterer Since wild winds have gone and restless rains have ceased and starry skies broke into dawn, you cut your anchor free. Now that storm has passed, and waves wound down their rage, you broke the chain that bound you fast at your most needful stage. But when the clouds collect, and you, … Continue reading Anchor
Dawn
By Kal Stein Soft light under gray skiesA gentle rain fallingThe quiet sound of waterWashing the grass and stonesSoothing my soulThey are all asleepWarm under the coversStill dreaming, wrapped in memoriesAs the morning beginsWaiting for no onePossibilities aboundTo be seizedThis day will not happen again Kal Stein resumed writing poetry after retiring from a lifetime … Continue reading Dawn
Seasons
By Vern Fein You can’t slip and fall on sunshinewhich reveals my prejudiceagainst Old Man Winterwho I would trip whenhe wasn’t lookingcause him to falland break his anklelike my boss didon that black ice at the airportwhich he couldn’t see because of the sun glare.Oh shoot.You have to be carefulevery season. A recent octogenarian, Vern … Continue reading Seasons
Beauty and the Feast
By Alex Andy Phuong Bounty full of beautyA feast for the sensesTaste a colorful rainbowAs a way to understand howThe power of nowReveals the gift of the presentAnd being alive,And after expressing gratitude For sustenance,Have a hopeful attitudeAs a way to seeHow to improve reality,For elegance and refinement Might reign supreme,But the necessity of foodReveals … Continue reading Beauty and the Feast
Mountain Ash
By Gregg Norman it stood alone lakesidewith only tules close bybut back a bittall Burr Oakslooked over itwith favorthere in no-man’s-landwhere none but spiritsand gods held swaywe thought thenas people dothat it might doto fill a spotby the cottagethat needed a treesensibly if notdesperatelyso we dug it outthough its rootsdefied our bladescut off at the … Continue reading Mountain Ash
Academy of the Heart And Mind 