Dance of the Butterflies ~ Jeff Lewis

Christmas in July

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, […]

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

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 […]

SUSAN SHEA ~ STATIC

Static I tried to explain I have only lived in flat places where walking is easy I suggested he walk our Alps-like neighborhood while I stay home and make notes in my new journal with the cover of a woman’s head with a plant growing out of the top then I saw the back of […]

FEELZ TRIP ~ Tim Staley

Feelz Trip I got tired of pushing sublime at my students. William Cowper, Lord Byron, James Thomson, Samuel Rogers?! Let’s just say those old boys weren’t hitting under the busted-up ceiling panels and flickering fluorescent lights of my classroom. My students were squirming in the hard plastic cells of their desks, so I decided to […]

Soldiering through an internal war ~ Bob McNeil

Soldiering through an internal war Helpless in a hospital, While laid out like a cadaver, My thoughts are mercurial. Petitioning for health is my endeavor. Although zeroed on my pain, I look at the TV news, Feeling levels of disdain And guilt for writing the blues. Some people in war-torn lands remain strong. Undaunted, they’re […]

Cacti Fur

a poetry high ground

nmtrue