April Showers – Ray Scanlon
So little does it take to mitigate the horrors of IRS Form 1040, a spider in the mailbox, or repeatedly snagging pinkie toe on errant elastic while slithering one’s foot into a recalcitrant sock: Cheryl’s swift soft peck on the temple as I type at the computer, Bach’s Ascension Oratorio with the volume at 11, spring’s first dandelion. Anticipating […]
Toilet Seat Request – by Cathryn Shea
I demand that it be left down, which from then on it is and like an unspoken settlement, on it from then on piss is.
time to buy a new brand of spirit gum – by Maureen Kingston
you deplete me : unpleat me : I’m lost lord : help me : help me : o : for christ’s sake : (for my sake) : I tell you : woman : stop praying : get off your knees : stop lifting your mouth to big G god : or : if you must […]
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3 Poems – Marc Alexander Valle
Branches, buddings, purple wrens, landing, chirping, bouncing, over battlefield trenches Desert, moon, white, dunes, sand, blowing, unearthing limestone ruins Thick mist clears, hot air balloon armada blots the atmosphere
The Ten-a-Penny Parable – by Matt Hollingsworth
Alright, so we’re in a city, you all with me so far? So in this city there’s this man; we’ll call him Person A and Person A has ten million dollars in a briefcase. Don’t ask why he has so much money or why he’s choosing to carry it around with him. Anyway, we’ve got […]
Jinapher J. Hoffman – Somewhere Else, Anywhere Else
I reach up, stick my tongue out. Momma sings to Little Brother in the nursery. My toy is on the top shelf. I have to climb to get it. Dad’s downstairs. He bellows out bad words. Baseball is on. I brace myself on top of his dresser. Momma stops singing. Dad stops shouting. The house […]
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Mark Danowsky – Worth Your Attention?
Music trumps information according to the author of Bug Music We will re-listen, he says when we will not re-read Music came first, after all and does not even require an instrument But so much music is noise just as words can be clutter and certain plants are weeds
Jono Naito – Position
I suspected my music tutors were psychiatrists in disguise. It was all in code, Mrs. Osborne’s idea. They told me, “Second position.” “Elbow up.” “Slide to extended fourth.” The cello’s neck choked me; I never held it right. The Tuesday tutor would twist me like armature wire, and I would stifle discomfort. Their corrections meant […]