The Gray Tree Is Graced I shot a winter photo of the Camperdown Elm. It is in Prospect Park near the lake, beside the boathouse. It’s the one Marianne Moore saved with a poem. It was old then, and thought dead. It is twisty, short and gnarly. Its two, heavy branches, one suffering a growing […]
Read more "THE GRAY TREE IS GRACED BY Gerald Wagoner"Butterfly Guts Older Sister. Little Brother. They pass the time by picking on each other. “Do you know that once a caterpillar turns into a Butterfly, it only lives for one more day?” Brother doesn’t dare question Sister. Sister knows everything. Sister can even count to one hundred. Brother blindly believes Sister for way too […]
Read more "ANTHONY LANDICINI – 2 POEMS"Aubade A spasm of brown and tan crosses Armijo Lateral. Waves of squirming tadpoles fan like peacock feathers in a paunch of late morning light. In the low pool All-it-can-eat tadpoles. Slithering closer: a few feet long ½ those feet obscured by murky water. An effervescence in its eyes as it spits out its tongue […]
Read more "TIM STALEY – 2 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"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"After Paz Words sifted througha pail of pebbles.My mind overrunby thoughts unleashed.Day and night splitby a seam throughwhich dusk travels.I write letters tofaded memories,to resentmentsand their knives.Words as scatteredas the voices ofmany songbirds.One page isn’t enoughbut two are too many.Words. Voices.Memories hid in darkcorners, behind bookshelves.Wait for them untilthey pull you betweenpast and present.
Read more "BRUCE GUNTHER – AFTER PAZ"GRANDPA’S MOOSE the wind ripples the water in ways that make it resemble the mountains that surround it.the peak’s shadows overhang the low valleys we fish in.across the lake, green shrubbery hides the lurking moose, moving silently til he nears our ears.we are in his land, his home.we are merely invaders to the beast, invaders […]
Read more "GRANDPA’S MOOSE – JAMES LIMON"The 10 Commandmentsof the 2022 Teen Creative Writing Clubof South Central New Mexico 1 anything can be poetry2 encourage others and be yourself3 things aren’t all black and white4 bad writing is better than no writing5 it’s not all about white men6 love your writing because it’s yours7 don’t forget this is a way out8 […]
Read more "The 10 Commandments of the 2022 Teen Creative Writing Club of South Central New Mexico"THE LIES ARE BEFORE THE FOOTHILLBy Melaina L. Mittel3rd place I want to tell you all a thing hereA tragic thing that defines my characterSomething that awakens even in dusk’s dawnSomething that can make an ego out of itselfSomething that can bring you and the others downAt the crack of daybreakSomething that defines my unfortunate […]
Read more "INAUGURAL KAREN TRUJILLO POETRY CONTEST – CLASS OF 2022 – THE WINNERS!"Forthcoming from Beatlick Press in September 2021 “In his stunning sophomore effort, The Pieces You Have Left, Tim Staley brings you to the woods and asks you to stay the night. In this moving and fast-paced collection, Staley touches on an array of subjects–space travel, love, fatherhood, masculinity, death, solitude, youth, and dementia–delving deeper than ever […]
Read more "A RARE AND DIFFERENT TUNE – A PRE ORDER OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR READERS"
Cacti Fur 