“Spectacle of Spectacles”Annette YoungMy Spectacles watched me seek for them lowered their head with mine. A clear silhouette of every Twist Turn Bend
“Elegy for the ‘Mule’ ”Stephen BarileNo idea where it came from, The pipe-threading lathe Just presented itself On the job when it was needed. From the truck and tools, We rested the Mule near the alley
“My Near-Death Experience”Kathleen HollidayAs near-death experiences go, it was one of the best. What more is there to tell?
“So Far”Julie BeneshWe’re on our last legs, and the legs are last to go; the best metaphors die young, reborn as cliches.
“Takers”Lumina MillerPicking at the bones, they feed from residual ligaments left post quiet carving began with disinterest proceeding to tsks tsks then disregard
“The Winters of the Sun”Lawrence BridgesLike a title that keys no theme Except an atmosphere, I slip into my clothes. A doorknob, a checklist, a podcast On an unsolved murder.
“Crisp the Surface”J. Parker MarvinShards of invention over crisp dirt :: secreted mouths whisper aboutasexual union and definitions :: small
“Where are Tolkien’s Ents?”Deborah FilanowskiThere is an army of ghost trees ringing the coastlines of the world. Once verdant, evidence of a healthy environment, now leafless, bleached white in death, phantoms of the forest that once was.
“Touring the Forest” and “Leaning Over the Rails”Jennifer PhillipsThis will help you to remember what a forest was. This one, North Temperate. Might have been where we are standing. Here, adjust the strap around your forehead, rest this over the bridge of your nose. Click the button. See.
“Earth Cries and the Oceans Catch the Tears,” “Reservoir No More,” and “Summer — Memory or Prophecy?”Russell WillisEach corner of a globe With no corners Born of the sea as Liquid or solid In dances with humans And dances between humans Fear and hope meet in their own dance As the earth cries
“Brood X”Marie-Louise EyresEach insect turns a fraction on its axis, a cocooned child shifting in a half-sleep, oblivious beyond cool mud to flames of wildfires as they streak across the hills of Paradise.
“something small has died”Patricia Franzwhen they’re born… they g r o w they m o v e crawl and c a l v e
“With Love, I Fall”Mary Beth KeenanLooking deep into my child’s eyes, I see both my ancestors and my descendants, I fall into a meditation about Mother Earth…
“Home, Sick”Robert Eugene RubinoZero degrees outside while cozy warm inside Mother opens apartment’s bedroom window reels in creaky clothesline of dried laundry
“I Need Yesterdays” and “If Only to Look”Samuel Gilpinreprieve thickening in threatening the still winter light encrusted as a high gray sky in thickness turning in another silence as in the waiting