THE FINAL ELEGY I see your fate as my brother’s was,as mine might have been—actions furthered by weakness,theatrics unworthy of review.That you find diversion inself-pity is unremarkable:through a glass,refracted light makes a fine mirror;a movie lens never focuses on soiled sheets.I can forgive you all but submissionthat is only vanity, only exhaustion.I’ll write you off […]
Read more "R.T. Castleberry – THE FINAL ELEGY"As One City girl in woods. A lake. A pier. Feet submerged. She squeals. It is cold. Aching ebbs. She sighs. Yellow butterfly hovers. Sharing wing music. Baby bass swimming. Fishers. Poles over shoulders. City girl shooes them. Feet over pebbles. Clumsy dance around boulders to the warblers’ beat. Fifty feet beneath limbs, leaves, parting […]
Read more "CARLA M. CHERRY – 3 POEMS"WHEN THE SHIT GETS REAL “My ol lady left me when her ol dog died, man. It’s not the first time either… They say it’s finally going to snow in Albuquerque. That’s when shit gets real” ~ WE GOT SO CLOSE It takes so much work to hit the stratosphere. LEO or “low earth orbit” […]
Read more "JOHNNY HUERTA – 3 POEMS"Writing It all starts on a blank page, blank like the silence that surrounds me every day. The things that no one else will say. That blank space into which I cast my line, trying to find out what the next line is again and again and again like punching against a wall of silence […]
Read more "Daniel Schulz – 4 POEMS"WHEN THE VIRUS CAME & STOLE MY WORDS The dreaded virus came & went but It hit hard for a few days when it was Even a struggle to make it off my Couch to my damn sofa but those days Are now firmly behind me but still Something lurks as if this lethargy may […]
Read more "BRADFORD MIDDLETON – 2 POEMS"Now you may have heard you’re already dead Let me tell you something I’ve seen a lot of dead people walking around And you’re not that bad yet Reflexes a little slow, maybe Eyes a little foggy Dumb as a post Dumb things can be good In silence Sometimes there’s wisdom I wish I could […]
Read more "Robin Wyatt Dunn – Now you may have heard you’re already dead"POETS IN THE RAIN All poets are crazy. Listen to them soak sponge in early rain medley notes sounding off. Crazy, suicidal, we know who they are: Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas the drunk, Anne Sexton, Teasdale. This group grows a Pinocchio nose. At times I capture you here under control. I want […]
Read more "Michael Lee Johnson – POETS IN THE RAIN"Old Man New Year I’m cooking on my campstove on one of my two folding chairs next to my packed car behind the Food 4 Less gonna make me some bacon and eggs, that’s right, heat some instant coffee too, and have a good old time after a decent front seat night’s sleep, fireworks notwithstanding; […]
Read more "Martin Pedersen – OLD MAN NEW YEAR"GODDESS OF THE GOLDEN PATH She follows the magic of red bumblebee and fruit tree. In her honor I conduct lightning rods over scrolls of ancient China. Like a dance gliding over ice on a sidewalk, she’ll swing to heal my soul. She’ll be cheering for me as I emerge from pools of old ghosts […]
Read more "CLIFFORD SAUNDERS – 2 POEMS"I Remember, Lance, the Last Time I Saw You Step by step the snowthrough the windowof your dad’s study. With empty spaceyou shake hands.I asked if I could touch you.Who was that meant to ease? Before I left, I spoke to your momin the breakfast nook.She told me what you told hera few weeks ago, […]
Read more "TIM STALEY – I REMEMBER, LANCE, THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU"
Cacti Fur 