Poetry

Featured image for ““Going to a Wedding,” “A Last Look,” and “At the Holocaust Museum””

“Going to a Wedding,” “A Last Look,” and “At the Holocaust Museum”
by Linda Laderman

We climb the steps of the synagogue when Annie asks, What is Jewish?
She is the child of a Jew, a son I raised to tell a story
with the fanfare of a performer on The Moth Radio Hour. Read more.

Featured image for ““A Stranger’s Peace” and “In the Moment””

“A Stranger’s Peace” and “In the Moment”
by Steve Snyder

The smell of sawdust I breathe in
As I work on the assembly line.
The monotonous, mechanized creation of orange crates
Gives my spirit peace – a stranger’s peace.
Read more.

Featured image for ““Academy Cemetery,” “D. H. Lawrence Ranch,” “A Eucalyptus Grove, South of San Juan Batista on Highway 101””

“Academy Cemetery,” “D. H. Lawrence Ranch,” “A Eucalyptus Grove, South of San Juan Batista on Highway 101”
by Stephen Barile

Valley oak
And rolling grasslands
All wildflowers in the spring
Dotted with graves
Backed up to the foothills
Blue mountain peaks
Uplifted behind them. Read more.

Featured image for ““Eisenhower’s Highway, 1960,” “Pain,” and “Upon Finding the Birth Quilt My Great Grandma Made for Me in My Mothers Attic””

“Eisenhower’s Highway, 1960,” “Pain,” and “Upon Finding the Birth Quilt My Great Grandma Made for Me in My Mothers Attic”
by Steve Brammell

It changes names as it rushes east
– Toll Road, Turnpike, Thruway –
supernatural, this ribbon of concrete,
where our brand new Buick,
swept back with its fins,
can fly, leaving the flat lands behind. Read more.

Featured image for ““Interval 189,” “Étude 15,” and “A Disappearance””

“Interval 189,” “Étude 15,” and “A Disappearance”
by Ray Malone

it whispers its way through to me, the night,
in the dying light of day, the things done,
the slow dissolve of sense, the list of smiles
ticked one by one from memory, a frown
or inimical face, best forgotten: Read more.

Featured image for ““The Flight Attendant,” “The Librarian,” and “The Lighthouse Keeper””

“The Flight Attendant,” “The Librarian,” and “The Lighthouse Keeper”
by John Peter Beck

Stay in your seats
and remain calm.

I am sure St. Bona of Pisa
said the same things afloat
when leading crusaders
to the Promised Land. Read more.

Featured image for ““Alone” and “The Night After I Stumbled Upon My Blood Owning Slaves””

“Alone” and “The Night After I Stumbled Upon My Blood Owning Slaves”
by Nancy Meyer

I hear in jail they beat you
with soap in a sock so the bruises
don’t show. I ride South
on the Greyhound

to Bloody Sunday, Bull Connor, Read more.

Featured image for ““wakeup,” “Popular,” and “Landlocked Lament””

“wakeup,” “Popular,” and “Landlocked Lament”
by Julie Benesh

with a hodgepodge pile of stuff
to make a bouillabaisse or salad of leaves

build a mansion or lean-to shack
protect from elements and enemies

fashion a tiara or a sassy sash
so as not to scare the children Read more.

Featured image for ““when the barn owl hoots no more,” “no trace,” and “again””

“when the barn owl hoots no more,” “no trace,” and “again”
by Christa Lubatkin

when the night’s
dark eyes won’t lift their lids
the sun
won’t cheer the day awake
storms
lose their breath
oceans
forget their flow Read more.

Featured image for ““Clauses,” “Complements,” and “Moods””

“Clauses,” “Complements,” and “Moods”
by John Davis

The subordinate clause clattered to the asphalt:
Because I didn’t want to be a house flower.
He fluttered his fingers like a hitchhiker. He hoped
to thumb a ride from a dependent clause, Read more.

Featured image for ““dep sesh,” “sadhu,” and “Missus Oxygen Kisses Mister Dynamite’s Heart””

“dep sesh,” “sadhu,” and “Missus Oxygen Kisses Mister Dynamite’s Heart”
by Gerard Sarnat

loci of suffering’s
my measly attempt
to lower stress level

a crying need warns
me off phantasmagoric
pathologist’s post-mortem Read more.

Featured image for ““labyrinthia,” “laestrygonia,” and “ogygia””

“labyrinthia,” “laestrygonia,” and “ogygia”
by Michele Evans

when i was a child,
momma told me:
sticks and stones
may break my bones
but words
will never hurt me. Read more.

Featured image for ““Hineini” and “Lover Found/Lost (Renée)””

“Hineini” and “Lover Found/Lost (Renée)”
by Lisa Delan

i am neither the seed
nor the fruit –
You water
me in the in
between;

between love and
the weeds
where i hide,
Read more.

Featured image for ““Grief,” “Clouds in the Sky,” and “Recalculating””

“Grief,” “Clouds in the Sky,” and “Recalculating”
by Cindy Buchanan

A month after our daughter was born,
we planted a white dogwood. I didn’t know
the legend of the crucifixion wood.
I just liked the symmetry
of the four-petaled flowers, plump white crosses
with bright green pistils in the middle. Read more.

Featured image for ““Coming to Freedom,” “Noguchi,” and “Gypsy””

“Coming to Freedom,” “Noguchi,” and “Gypsy”
by Dorothy Johnson-Laird

dressed in white
your deep eyes pierced the daylight
*Araminta, defender of the people
when you crossed the line to freedom, the stars opened up all around you

something in your heart made you pause, turn around, breathing Read more.

Featured image for ““Cantúa Creek,” “Joaquin,” and “Mustang Running””

“Cantúa Creek,” “Joaquin,” and “Mustang Running”
by Stephen Barile

First explored by Spanish Army troops
From Mission San Juan Baptista,
Led by Jose de Guadalupe Cantua,

Son of a prominent Californio Ranchero
In the 19th-century Mexican era
Of early California history Read more.

Featured image for ““In the Tidal Pool,” “Weathering,” and “A Vespa Ride””

“In the Tidal Pool,” “Weathering,” and “A Vespa Ride”
by Oanh Nguyen

First at sunrise,
Then at sunset
You ebb away
leaving me suspended.
My kaleidoscopic charms
laid bare at the altar
of jumbled cowries,
flowers of the sea, Read more.

Featured image for ““Rambling Rose,” “Jake: The Best Dog in the World,” and “Truly Madly Deeply””

“Rambling Rose,” “Jake: The Best Dog in the World,” and “Truly Madly Deeply”
by Debra Rose Brillati

The car I grew up in
Was a 1960 Pontiac Star Chief
Four-door sedan hardtop
In a color my Crayola 64 box called Flesh.
Even at a time when most cars
Came in a wide variety of vibrant colors,
This one stood out. Read more.

Featured image for ““Aut Pax Aut Bellum,” “Three Sisters,” and “Quiet the Celebration””

“Aut Pax Aut Bellum,” “Three Sisters,” and “Quiet the Celebration”
by Michele Parker Randall

Mother needles & threads her way into conversations,
as she does with everything,
tacking here
& there, piercing
the cotton weave of our family, her place secure. Read more.

Featured image for ““I will not die,” “Wednesday,” and “calendar””

“I will not die,” “Wednesday,” and “calendar”
by Esme DeVault

last Wednesday night
on the phone
you said
I want my kids
to know you
as you leaned toward
the darkened future Read more.

Featured image for ““Death Means Not Sleeping,” “Ghazal from a Bottle,” and “On Tuesdays””

“Death Means Not Sleeping,” “Ghazal from a Bottle,” and “On Tuesdays”
by Fran Abrams

How do you keep on getting out of bed each morning?
A bed that is half empty since the day your husband died.
A life that seems like a flight of stairs missing a step
and you always seem to trip on that one. Read more.

Featured image for ““The Long March,” “Sunday Sunday,” and “Marie””

“The Long March,” “Sunday Sunday,” and “Marie”
by Jack Harvey

Bound on some skillful retreat,
a long march
north and west;
cut off from the rest
we end up foraging
in some scanty orchard,
the two of us. Read more.

Featured image for ““Duncan’s Point Along Highway 1,” “A Poem Without Poetry,” and “Nightfall””

“Duncan’s Point Along Highway 1,” “A Poem Without Poetry,” and “Nightfall”
by Nick Vasquez

I.
Purple delosperma frozen on stone cliffs
windswept granite.
Permanent calligraphy on blue canvas
only tides change.

II.
Carved into a driftwood bench
three names now forgotten. Read more.

Featured image for ““oh physics,” “Messages,” and “Elfie’s Quantum Thoughts””

“oh physics,” “Messages,” and “Elfie’s Quantum Thoughts”
by Malcolm Glass

oh physics
of warped gluons in the matrix chromosomes
molding children with necks and knees

disjoint and attenuate physics of the transport
of chlorophyll far more certain
than law or reason

and the stopped blood of embryos Read more.