insecurity
by sarah endsley
A grey abandoned pipe.
An open field.
Climb inside, trace the cracks.
Still, it is round, hollow, and when your fist hits its side,
It echoes, leaving knuckles raw.
Whispering, hold your breath.
Swim,
Bypass the bridge.
See you on the …

breath
by drew deGennaro

Where I live the lights are left on
And spread like a blanket over the darkened cage
Where they chirp well past twelve and
That melody is why we sleep, with such ease
 
And in his chair, …

It Is Not That Makes Me A Woman
by elizabeth c. neavel

It is not the curve
of my breast as it
hangs low
nipples pointing down
with gravity
beneath my blouse
that makes me a woman.
It is not
the youth of my …

I BARELY TOUCHED HIM
by nicole kuwik
Saving bats
with your bare hands
just might get you
rabies unless a boy
with a piece of tagboard
walks by to yell at you
“DON’T TOUCH IT I’M GOING TO
THROW IT OFF THE SIDE!!!!!”
You stop …

M is for Metamorphosis
by david macpherson
Gregor Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a muppet. He was squat, purple and furry. He discovered he had a preternatural desired to count …

At the County Fair (in New Jersey)
by kimberly e. ruth
He blew up my balloon and I held my breath. As
it got bigger, so did my eyes, as though air were
being blown into me instead of …

sometimes, the sky in golden
by travis cebula
appropriate, a chill wind should be
the one to draw first leaves from high cradles
in this clipped and dappled enclave of
meticulous comfort and knee-high fences
whisper it’s the season of the …

dying father
by riley knox
Life-breaths leak through tarred and cracked teeth
as you tell us the same lie.
A weak eye wanders left, caught by something gleaming,
and my reaction is calculated.
Your stare is feeble now.
But when I was …

Derrick
by gene defcon
When a cop does a fantastic job
Nobody cares
Least of all the mayor
And his effeminate son, Derrick

early evening
by jim benz
After the first glass of bourbon,
sitting in the shade, smelling charcoal
turn to dust and chicken skin
to gold, the grass and weeds
don’t look so tall.

the one you feed
by sarah endsley
The rat-tail assaulting my entrance at two a.m.
The smile man greeting me, praying silently.
Rat is sarcastic, lethargic, mentioning moth-worn promises
that never awaken to morning warmth.
Smiley carefully reads passages that resonate …

The Octopus and the Ultra-Perm
by pat a physics
Grace. The tinkling of silverware is the dinner bell of my
universe. My subscription to your thoughts needs to be renewed
here at the table. False alarms …

Business Life
by donald illich
My haircut is a brand new business.
Outside the barbershop window
onlookers hope to catch
the black strands of Samson
retiring into business life.
No more collapsing columns
of poetry, attracting women
and lions who come with
scissors and fangs …

A Brief History of Việt Nam
by brian phó
Her vast dynasties
battle a millennium of
futility.
938 sovereignty.
Great Khan gambles
on land and sea.
Stakes are raised.
Bamboo.
Fierce dragon, if
fate had feathers clipped
your fatherland would utter
a different cry.
Colonization, romanization, quốc ngữ.
感 恩 …

aborting dancers
by diy danna
Police conversation, “Where have you been?!”
echos on the wall, tilting pictures of boy and girl ballet dancers.
Art collecting questions seemed endless,
stretching tights into body stockings into twisted nylon ropes.
The late dancer-competing with …

screw you
by dianne boresenik
Screw it. You
are wound up,
screwed in,
a little too tightly.
You need to
loosen up,
just a little,
teensy tittle,
just a jot.
You don’t want
to have a screw
loose, or worse
yet, a loose
screw. Some
things are
meant to be
tight. …

on Sunbathing
by kimberly e ruth
oil
sunglasses
removable top
and any surface:
grass, sand, pavement
There was once a 3 car pile up
southbound on the New York State
Thruway, cars backed up for exits.
Motionless bodies, face up,
on the hoods of cars,
will …

OXYGEN
by nicole kuwik
I remember this
one time on vacation
when my PapaPaul had
said something that made
us all pair up and
leave him
standing by the rental car,
But then
his emphazema started
to bother him and
I remember the look
in his eyes when
he …

tactless vacuum
by floyd crenshaw
the house needs to be clean
i have guests coming,
oh my,
i must prepare for them.
too, too busy.
a headless white rabbit
a bullhorn count down
won’t bother with peasant work
stupid money can clean house
button ‘Clean’ pulsating …

THE MURDER OF CROWS
by santiago del dardano turann
The murder of crows sit
On the power lines grim
As Fate in all her tragic pomp
Exchanging crackly gossip
With the others croaking
Like the very sick or very old
Squatting on a …

Terrified Orphan
by gene defcon
Living in dread
And sharing the bed
With the dried-out heads
Of parents long dead

Conga line Gummy Bears in the Age of Sexually Ambiguous Elizabethan Poets
(For Shawn Misener’s Colon)
by Quasimofo Bear

 
under the canopy of a debauched awning
and the skinny-dipping parameters
of A.M. pre-dawn, my Mack truck stereo
yip and yaps belated …

A Noose of Injection Molded Plastic
by shawn misener
He trudged home from work
and stuffed his magic under the couch
where soon a moldy rainbow would emerge
spreading cocaine and kool-aid sprinkles
across the avocado shag carpet
He sat there under …