Poetry

Featured image for ““Cat. Night. Hunting,” “Lazarus,” and ” Vertigo””

“Cat. Night. Hunting,” “Lazarus,” and ” Vertigo”

Leslie Young

The third eye opens. Treasure:
How dry linen pops into flame
With spark and magic instant.
In the sweet live dark the trees drip life.
Featured image for ““Self Portrait as Quilt,” “Books: Rare/Medium/Well Done,” and “Summer of Yoga””

“Self Portrait as Quilt,” “Books: Rare/Medium/Well Done,” and “Summer of Yoga”

Julie Benesh

You can call me a comforter
emitting essential oils
like quiet sighs, silk-washed
in tears silent as the ear of a baby.
Featured image for ““Falling Dreams,” “Brushstrokes,” and “Mozart’s Starling””

“Falling Dreams,” “Brushstrokes,” and “Mozart’s Starling”

Gerry Sloan

are the worst, often perched
on a ledge at the edge
of a mountainside,
the danger palpable…
Featured image for ““A Quiet Place” and “Purple Unicorn””

“A Quiet Place” and “Purple Unicorn”

William Wang

Can I take you somewhere special?
It’s quiet, but not literally
It exists in fragments of peace
Between strong-minded but gentle-souled
Tears from the sky
Featured image for ““Before the Blueprint,” “The Day the Sky Gasped,” and “Machines in Mascara””

“Before the Blueprint,” “The Day the Sky Gasped,” and “Machines in Mascara”

Meg Taylor

What if we stopped naming stars
before they’re born—
stopped dreaming up doctorates
in ultrasound rooms,
or calling chubby fists
“just like Dad’s baseball grip”?
Featured image for ““Gentle Sky is Large”, “Trembling Incomplete,”and “Wind Passes By””

“Gentle Sky is Large”, “Trembling Incomplete,”and “Wind Passes By”

Frederick Schardt

To listen to a gentle rippling
blues and folk melody
and realize its one
of yr own and you’re
sitting under the same
immeasurable sky of feeling
Featured image for ““Autumn Day,” “Connected,” and ” Wedding Anniversary””

“Autumn Day,” “Connected,” and ” Wedding Anniversary”

Patricia Hemminger

Blue skies, seventy degrees
but it’s almost November,
the chrysanthemums hanging on.
Prickly burs fall
from the Chinese chestnut tree,
some stems loosen, others still cling.
Featured image for ““Spring Leaning,” “Potato Soup,” “Any Old Two-Lane Won’t Do””

“Spring Leaning,” “Potato Soup,” “Any Old Two-Lane Won’t Do”

Yvonne Morris

Thick ice in the driveway’s pothole thaws.
Three birds discover the puddle. I watch
from my warm, mouse-colored sofa as
they flop and shriek, bouncy in the frigid…
Featured image for ““The Time of Our Lives,” “The Geography of Absence,” and “Conundrum””

“The Time of Our Lives,” “The Geography of Absence,” and “Conundrum”

John Peter Beck

We live
in the future,

but only
for a moment.

Poetry

Featured image for ““Cat. Night. Hunting,” “Lazarus,” and ” Vertigo””

“Cat. Night. Hunting,” “Lazarus,” and ” Vertigo”

Leslie Young

The third eye opens. Treasure:
How dry linen pops into flame
With spark and magic instant.
In the sweet live dark the trees drip life.
Featured image for ““Self Portrait as Quilt,” “Books: Rare/Medium/Well Done,” and “Summer of Yoga””

“Self Portrait as Quilt,” “Books: Rare/Medium/Well Done,” and “Summer of Yoga”

Julie Benesh

You can call me a comforter
emitting essential oils
like quiet sighs, silk-washed
in tears silent as the ear of a baby.
Featured image for ““Falling Dreams,” “Brushstrokes,” and “Mozart’s Starling””

“Falling Dreams,” “Brushstrokes,” and “Mozart’s Starling”

Gerry Sloan

are the worst, often perched
on a ledge at the edge
of a mountainside,
the danger palpable…
Featured image for ““A Quiet Place” and “Purple Unicorn””

“A Quiet Place” and “Purple Unicorn”

William Wang

Can I take you somewhere special?
It’s quiet, but not literally
It exists in fragments of peace
Between strong-minded but gentle-souled
Tears from the sky
Featured image for ““Before the Blueprint,” “The Day the Sky Gasped,” and “Machines in Mascara””

“Before the Blueprint,” “The Day the Sky Gasped,” and “Machines in Mascara”

Meg Taylor

What if we stopped naming stars
before they’re born—
stopped dreaming up doctorates
in ultrasound rooms,
or calling chubby fists
“just like Dad’s baseball grip”?
Featured image for ““Gentle Sky is Large”, “Trembling Incomplete,”and “Wind Passes By””

“Gentle Sky is Large”, “Trembling Incomplete,”and “Wind Passes By”

Frederick Schardt

To listen to a gentle rippling
blues and folk melody
and realize its one
of yr own and you’re
sitting under the same
immeasurable sky of feeling
Featured image for ““Autumn Day,” “Connected,” and ” Wedding Anniversary””

“Autumn Day,” “Connected,” and ” Wedding Anniversary”

Patricia Hemminger

Blue skies, seventy degrees
but it’s almost November,
the chrysanthemums hanging on.
Prickly burs fall
from the Chinese chestnut tree,
some stems loosen, others still cling.
Featured image for ““Spring Leaning,” “Potato Soup,” “Any Old Two-Lane Won’t Do””

“Spring Leaning,” “Potato Soup,” “Any Old Two-Lane Won’t Do”

Yvonne Morris

Thick ice in the driveway’s pothole thaws.
Three birds discover the puddle. I watch
from my warm, mouse-colored sofa as
they flop and shriek, bouncy in the frigid…
Featured image for ““The Time of Our Lives,” “The Geography of Absence,” and “Conundrum””

“The Time of Our Lives,” “The Geography of Absence,” and “Conundrum”

John Peter Beck

We live
in the future,

but only
for a moment.