costa mesa
by dominae cole
The Santa Anas blow,
while I pen your name
on the back of my hand
like a short list of things
to do.
My bloody cuticles hold
barely lit American Spirits,
and I sip a never ending
Heineken on …

don’t read the papers anymore
by daniel
water
nothing
cigarettes
beer
and that cheeseburger
from that place on the North End
where that young girl
sat at the bar
with her slim back to me
and those rose coloured canvas shoes
where she sighed
like the world was …

god must be in bed
by reed posey
Insane rhythm less roofers
Nailing shingles
To the morning of the skull
Psychiatric Lawnmen
Mowing mazes
Right outside the windows of eternity
Laboratory Brain Monkeys
Beating Shakespeare
Into infinite electric typewriters
Savage Savage City Bus
Belching gravel sounds and …

HALF-HEARTED CANDLESTICK BLACKBIRD CADENZA.
by shannon baker
a kid could get greedy
smashing eyes like that around
the walls and hearts of everyroom.
i prayed for extra paper
in the fluorescent bed
where we shed smells like
lawyers tossing bath towels.
i never thought …

The Meat of the Bacon Fish
by shawn misener
Bacon fish meat
is the stuff of lore in the mountains
I saw the Captain Lou Albino look-alike
savoring one tiny bite after the other
from his corner table outside Beggar’s
His …

Impregnating Blow-up dolls and longest daydreams 86,400 seconds before slumber [Allegro Vibrato in D Major]
by Quasimofo Dali
i.
a moment in your mom’s world is meant to breathe wean
when K^A^P^L^U^E^Y!!! !!,
the next minute lifts its umbilical mini-skirt
crying …

You Smell Like A Brewery
by mike meraz
“you smell like a brewery.”
scared and nervous, it was the only way
I could handle her standing in line
at the ten item express.
bread, milk, tampons, love in a box,
cereal, pasta …

Yellow Tulips
by eileen myles
I was walking along the sidewalk
in all the daily pain
& miserable faces & awful air.
Up above in a flower box
were yellow tulips, too real
to be real, so big
and sexual looking in
that funny …

Last in Line for Love
by gene defcon
Momma just lay there
Her teets on display
While excited young kittens
Fought fairly for space
They gorged on her milk
Beyond what they needed
And left nothing at all
For the runt

Black Stone by Dale Smith
(Effing Press, 2007)
Review by Nicholas Manning
I have a problem with Dale Smith’s new collection, and this problem will take some explaining.
First, let me state that Smith’s poetry is …

getting stuck in a parade somewhere downtown in the deep mountains of vermont
by joseph reich
when all else fails
& goes void & vacant
roll out miniature golf
sip n’ dip lickety-splits
roll in the parade
through shadows
of corroded keyholes
of cathedrals …

1.
You growl into me
Pinned down like prey, the rush
In controlling arms.

the clincher
by kj
dear me, damn my mother’s lips.
lips that blew up this polka dotted
inflatable swimming pool that
i pour her ashes into in accord
with her last pill and chocolate mint.
dear me, curse my mother’s
feet that trod …

The Hand
by mary ruefle
The teacher asks a question.
You know the answer, you suspect
you are the only one in the classroom
who knows the answer, because the person
in question is yourself, and on that
you are the greatest …

Ways to Save Money
by john bennett
Pinch pennies. Grow your own vegetables. Pull all your teeth with pliers and put the whole bloody mess under your pillow. Pretend you’re asleep and when the tooth fairy shows …

travelers
by christopher woods
In the bus station
I was near enough
To be master of ceremonies,
Seeing them on their way.
But I had no idea,
Let alone imagination,
For what rolled toward me
On the dolly.
An ice chest, and I thought
It odd …

LOOKING UP
by ryan ritchie
Wrote a shitty poem
and tried to write another
but that once sucked more than the first one
So I flipped on the internet
and jacked off to some porn
Finally,
something’s going my way

Hamid from Egypt
by joe cloyd
In the back stockroom
Of the downtown Safeway,
I worked with an old man named Hamid.
He was a PhD in history who
Was forced to flee
His own country…
We weren’t alone.
There were the cockroaches,
And the …

paralyzed victim
by gene defcon
Wink your way to safety
Drag your body across the floor
Using the muscles of your face
Smile away as fast as you can
Furrow your brow up the stairs
Clench your jaw through the doggy door
Before …

OUTSIDE OF THE ATM
by nicole kuwik
I watch his pupils dialate
as he yells “FUCK!” outside
of the ATM
A lady clutching a baby
stares like a baboon as she
exits the steakhouse and I look away
It’s six o’ clock on …

15 pounds of bananas.
by ajezzy
I climbed up my bunk bed stoned off of banana peals and Benadryl and chocolate holding a pillow for dear life in case I fell. Gravity is a bitch and I …

all the subarus in ballard and all the boys i never married
by rachel
if my electricity
could prod your electricity
into sparking and sputtering
back to life,
i would give you
nine tenths of my battery
(cus the fuckin alternator’s
gone out again, …

Melted Candy
by pat a physics
Today she was swirling a mixture of cognac and twilight
her skin shone like a seal
she asked us undo-able favors in the darkened foyer
while her pets went ballistic.
Her eyes were a child-actors …

Shadows
by olga kronmeyer
They moved in to a small drab house.
Her ponytail hung loose.
He limped around a shaky ladder
And they brought her old mother.
They trod into a steepled house.
Its stained rays pressed their clothes.
Their songs battered …

Big Dreams
by kimberly e ruth
On my way home from work I heard a man say it doesn’t matter, sleep is the same wherever you do it, and I thought, yeah, for the moment. I remember …