Renee Ebert ~ Listening to Jazz in Newport Beach (Remembering the Holocaust)

Listening to Jazz in Newport Beach (Remembering the Holocaust) All the beautiful clothes In a pile on the floor Some beginning to wear A thread loose, color fading A piece of hair Of living human beings They watch and listen to the jazz Look closer Prettiness gone, fading too Eyeglasses, teeth, possessions Become just cracks […]

A WAR POEM WRITTEN BY A 17 YEAR OLD WHO IS ONE HIGH SCHOOL SEMESTER AWAY FROM GOING TO MARINE BOOT CAMP

War. War. I think of it often, dream of it even, the honor, the stories of men who gave up their tomorrows, so that others could keep theirs. But then reality sets in and the horror shines through. How saving a life is easy, but taking one is so much easier. War. Brothers in arms, […]

2 poems by LEOTIS HARGROVE

Walking on Bloody soil Pt. I History has shown us one thing,The one who rules, is the one who one.War’s past, present and future,Only has one outcome, survivals of Death.Tainted grounds, roads, animals and nature,Discarded, cause not a single person cared! Walking on Bloody soil Pt. II Not one human being cared about their environment,Nor […]

2 POEMS by Amy Marques

Grave What I’m Talking About When I Talk About Home The neighbor’s water sprinklers go off synched to my bladder at four am and I muscle memory my uncounted steps from four- blanket cocoon to streetlamp-lit bathroom as mattress-groans signal my partner turns in preparation anticipation expectation to pull me in when I sink back […]

3 poems by Ashley Haberberger

Once Told Once I told my partner that I do my best writing under the cover of night, because the twinkling stars shining through my bedroom window, straining to be seen against suburban streetlights, were there to cheer me on. In truth, it’s the only time I have to ruminate on everything I’ve ever said, […]

JEFF TOBIN ~ You Called It Amateur

You Called It Amateur You sat at the end of the long table, spine slouched in triumph, flicking through the workshop packet like it was catalog junk mail— and when you landed on her poem, the one about the jar of buttons she found in her dead mother’s drawer, you smiled that lazy, sideways smile, […]

ROSE MARY BOEHM ~ ODE TO GARLIC

Ode to Garlic Humble architect of appetite, builder of feasts, your essence expanding in the heat of the frying pan, melting into the broth or browning in rich olive oil where you will be added to the onions, zucchini, tomatoes, and paprika—neither too soon, nor too late, a ghost wafting from the kitchen, a whisper […]

PENNY NOLTE ~ REFLECTION

Reflection When I was in the hospital I was five years old and With another little girl Next door We talked And laughed Just knowing She was there I felt better My mother says I had a private room But there may have been a mirror

JOHN GREY ~ My Place In The Garden

My Place In The Garden Can’t out-beauty the rose – have to out-think it. It may be a luscious crimson, but I can remember who won the Super Bowl in 1984. What does a rose know of football? Its scent may rival a Paris parfumerie but it can’t size up its options, make a decision […]

Storm Ainsely ~ REAL HAIR

Real Hair The black man who stopped, said “Forgive me, but you have real hair I don’t see that often & it’s beautiful” I had it up in twin tails, how I learned to wear my mask, so the loops would go over my hair & not my ears didn’t say it till he saw it from the […]

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