Undiagnosed Discomfort Asked if I still keep doves, I recall I once did, but like the petals of down they shed, I’ve lost their names, markings, the number of bodies I held in my palm, fed capsules of bread I’d rolled between thumb and finger, til my mother set them free, out of feelings of […]
Read more "Avra Elliott ~ Undiagnosed Discomfort"ghost ride the whip another house party hosted by whatsherface another lacklustre Saturday chauffeuring you around rooms of architecturally handsome faces but tonight I’m cloaked each word I utter is a haunting met with a second-sucking startle before being relegated to the conversation’s footnotes so I saunter between gossiping huddles like a watermark on the […]
Read more "Alex Scarborough ~ ghost ride the whip"Over-Steeped Morning calm spills down my throat, an antidote to replace jitters of coffee, aspartame of Diet Coke. Keep me awake on this morning, every morning, when sleep pulls like a lover from an unmade bed, and let me continue work that feels more important than me while disease leaks life from my neighbors and missiles fall around […]
Read more "Over-Steeped ~ Elizabeth Birch"PRETENDING TO WORK This Thursday I will pretend to work I will take some very real calls And answer some very real emails From some very real people And then I will gaze with some peppermint tea Listening to the sound of a small fridge And refresh the inbox And wonder what notes are on […]
Read more "Pretending to Work ~ Paola Magnusson de Filippi"Miscommunication It was evident by how voraciously she unbuttoned my button and unzipped my zipper that she had not understood what I had meant when I had said I only wanted a Platonic relationship. ~~~ Intimidation You don’t soon forget when you walk into your boss’s office and spot a shrunken head resting on his […]
Read more "4 poems by Wolfgang Wright"A Warning Label for Life Drowsy amid dawn, I brush my teeth and shower with city-issued disinfection byproducts that may cause cancer. Abluted in the chromium-6, lead, and other contaminants, I call myself clean. Soft scrambled eggs go down my gullet with their heavy metals, toasted and buttered carcinogens soon follow. Water sends a vitamin […]
Read more "A WARNING LABEL FOR LIFE ~ BOB MCNEIL"Drinking Coffee Alone People I have loved keep dying. They lull you into a sense of reassuring permanence then stop showing up, chatting, breathing, being. I accept no blame, never said anything overly offensive and intend to be here indefinitely. But it’s not easy to replace the quitters. Other people already have their quota of […]
Read more "Drinking Coffee Alone ~ Allan Lake"Moonphase The moon, with its unblemished predator eyes, hunts for the human heart. I steal four drifting poems— Your moonlit body floats in through the perfumed window of the sky. I. Jazz of endless desire plays at the pinnacle of the air. The world sways, unravels itself, Bubbles rise, hover, burst. The skeleton of a […]
Read more "2 POEMS by Sabyasachi Roy"Astronomy My foster father made me suck his dick when I was seven says my friend in the passenger seat as I drive the sunset hills, the car a private world. My blood thickens with compassion for her mouth and tongue used in that way. How can I now speak any words that would not […]
Read more "2 POEMS BY Carol L. Gloor"Christmas in July
Read more "Dance of the Butterflies ~ Jeff Lewis"
Cacti Fur 