She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter
She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter Freshly spawned, Brain dumps Bleeding grey: Reflections of a mind That wavers thin Along the line That savours pain – A pond of skin Devoid of breast – The pad a feign: The nothing Underneath your bra At best Is your imagination Spread across a narcoleptic world Suchlike […]
The Other Side of Panic by Martina Reisz Newberry
The Other Side of Panic by Martina Reisz Newberry It begins with the desert’s hot sky, mendacious as always, alchemizing grief and loathing into love stories. Here is the other side of panic: a dug-in-deep lethargy that makes your marrow itch. Anyway, the desert underwrites your soul’s story. You become untethered from yourself which may […]
Sculpture of Debris on the Waterfront by Martina Reisz Newberry
Sculpture of Debris on the Waterfront by Martina Reisz Newberry I’ve come to know the way the details of love are a prayer or maybe a polite demand that sets God’s teeth on edge. We most certainly did that: set God’s teeth on edge. Our prayer became fetus and I shed it—dough—before it could become […]
Question mark remarks by Mark Miller
Question mark remarks by Mark Miller Remnants all shame remained, Woven reflections disillusionment, Humility’s existence sanctioned- Nor I or he states present fear, Toil tirade penciled paper, Benevolent creator of hate, Grace in place, grace in stance- Home’ outside times space, Stranger’s being fakes face- Nobody welcomes the Judas, Of lucid transcendence He, Lies in […]
The joyful things in life by Martin Smith
I found out for shore just the other day, It’s a boy our baby boy is on his way. At 35 weeks and only 4 to go with all the excitement and joy my heart run’s with overflow. What more can i ask for out of life soon to be two beautiful kids and a […]
The Frantic by Mark Miller
The Frantic by Mark Miller Glazed eyes betray masks hidden dwellers awareness Colors distortion follow behind actors lied performance Substance of emptiness gravely transforms presence in trance Identity’s in flux erects fragile panic a cognitive disturbance Vessels lot of absence, a vacuous state of emotional detachment Creeper of rose abasement seeks placement being embodiment incarnate […]
Postures by Martina Reisz Newberry
Postures by Martina Reisz Newberry I had a friend who said this: “The only thing that you can count on is loss.” I never quite bought that. I’ve counted on other things: The uncontrolled appetite of Guilt the disarray of Wisdom the long thirsty threads of Desire the short streets of Love the blank stare […]
The End of the Argument by Martina Reisz Newberry
The End of the Argument by Martina Reisz Newberry Adam’s torso, it is said, was made from earth taken from Babylonia. That may be, but it’s all-fall-down time there now; it’s watch-out- the-sky’s-on-fire time. The burquas are burning, Ogals and gutrahs are birds escaping flames, escaping smoke and gunfire. Kaffiyeh fly as well, but not […]
My Father’s Hats by Mark Irwin
My Father’s Hats by Mark Irwin Sunday mornings I would reach high into his dark closet while standing on a chair and tiptoeing reach higher, touching, sometimes fumbling the soft crowns and imagine I was in a forest, wind hymning through pines, where the musky scent of rain clinging to damp earth was his scent […]
The Dreadful Has Already Happened by Mark Strand
The relatives are leaning over, staring expectantly. They moisten their lips with their tongues. I can feel them urging me on. I hold the baby in the air. Heaps of broken bottles glitter in the sun. A small band is playing old fashioned marches. My mother is keeping time by stamping her foot. My father […]
The Dragon and The Unicorn by Mary Etta Metcalf
the dragon sat complacently looking at the unicorn as it grazed ‘tell me little unicorn how your golden horn upon your head doth work?’ raising its head chewing thoughtfully he finally turned to the dragon wisdom comes unto the dragon and the unicorn as they talk ‘a good question to ask oh mighty dragon but […]
Please Don’t Judas Me by Mark Miller
Please Don’t Judas Me by Mark Miller Night’s wind o’ whisper Strangled sleep o’ slumber eternal Burned scars by hidden marks Thy Mirrors thought lies feral In quests last stance we reason for circumstance Blank stairs craze vision of virtue- Castaway – hell’s permanent burden Obscure Reflection points portrait of misfortune Platitude uprising life over […]
The Last Wolf by Mary TallMountain
The last wolf hurried toward me through the ruined city and I heard his baying echoes down the steep smashed warrens of Montgomery Street and past the ruby-crowned highrises left standing their lighted elevators useless Passing the flicking red and green of traffic signals baying his way eastward in the mystery of his wild loping […]
Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf
Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf light and dark…each having failed us at a time of need…only one is true reaching toward the sky…begging for answers…only to be denied it is your quest…you must succeed to know the truth…to be yourself child of the light…child of the dark…never sure which you are […]
Nestling by Mark R Slaughter
Nestling by Mark R Slaughter When to summon the sky Little nestling? When to summon the sky? And suffer the risk – abscond in dread – The knowledge of sort that you’ll be dead Upon a calamitous fall; Or taken in flight – a hawkish pounce – Demolished as prey; your fate pronounce You gone […]
The Homeless Man by Mary TallMountain
After I read I prop myself up on a book and try to write. Yesterday as I left the BART station I saw a man acting as if (as we say) at war with himself, commandeering without wit, the opposite staircase by the nightmare of his appearance. He rocked his knees up in the air […]
My Words Embrace by Mary Etta Metcalf
come close to me hear my thoughts feel my words let them create the mood for our encounter shall we be friends lovers of the word or strangers let my words embrace you fill your every need i sense you needs feel your loneliness your emptiness take my words to fill you ease your pain […]
Telescope by Mark R Slaughter
Telescope by Mark R Slaughter Why? Frozen fingers fiddled on the focus Dew dripped Dark hindered Constellations laughed – Not least that I was daft – And made me wonder: “Why?” As nostrils dripped, charts rung damp, I tripped across the tripod, Swore – either that or cry! You’d HAVE to question: “Why?” The once-hot […]
My Mother On An Evening In Late Summer by Mark Strand
1 When the moon appears and a few wind-stricken barns stand out in the low-domed hills and shine with a light that is veiled and dust-filled and that floats upon the fields, my mother, with her hair in a bun, her face in shadow, and the smoke from their cigarette coiling close to the faint […]
Sunflowers by Martin Willitts Jr.
Sunflowers by Martin Willitts Jr. Based on the Van Gogh painting “Sunflowers” he made while waiting for Cezanne to join him I want to decorate my room with color from sunflowers that all I can imagine sharing the arbitrary orange and yellow I selected from the field of my imagination placed them on a table […]
Morning by Mark R Slaughter
Morning by Mark R Slaughter The eye came out – A lust for scouting Lips were swollen – Geared for pouting Over breasts That hardly shouted Loud enough To catch the eye That caught the curve Traversing buttocks Emphasising all that’s Full and round And smooth of skin To usher in The eagerness of closing […]
Speaking the Language of Deer by Martin Willitts Jr.
Speaking the Language of Deer by Martin Willitts Jr. She heard a thumping sound behind her house, turned on the back porch light to a small herd of deer startled by the suddenness of light, frozen and indecisive as a letter of regret “don’t worry, it’s just me, I won’t harm you,” she coaxed, a […]
Mending Socks by Martin Willitts Jr.
Mending Socks by Martin Willitts Jr. Based on Archibald J. Motley’s painting “Mending Socks”, 1924 She has mended a generation of socks. She is old as the waxed fruit in the bowl. Her hands are furrowed as years in the fields. There were times when she felt like she would never be done, she would […]
Some Say by Mark Miller
Some Say by Mark Miller We never know, Some say When time severs our earthly Glow Eminence of lively decay Obedience by radiate deviant Some say I was Relic’s relative rumination Of fanatic’s latent personification Lantern-jawed Some say I chose turn pose Savant’s defiance Polarized face tuned Grace Pernicious duality Some say I am Status […]
So You Say by Mark Strand
It is all in the mind, you say, and has nothing to do with happiness. The coming of cold, the coming of heat, the mind has all the time in the world. You take my arm and say something will happen, something unusual for which we were always prepared, like the sun arriving after a […]
Slag by Mark Base
Slag by Mark Base Yesterday morning I woke up late, Lying in your bed, God, what a state. Too many drinks the night before; Stumbling out through your front door – I had fun, hope you had fun, too. I had to work and you were dead; Too many vodkas go to your head. Quickly […]
Manure by Mark R Slaughter
Manure by Mark R Slaughter The rotting garden, Bare across the winter months, Sleeps alive – Fortitude is rumbling ‘mongst Manure Giving character, Bringing in the farm – Fecundity in faeces! We talk about consistency of shit – We dig it in – We love it – Gives the element of pride, For we are […]
Mammary Tunes by Mark R Slaughter
Mammary Tunes by Mark R Slaughter Under heavy haze I cast an ear… Was that a distant hymn? To view, to peer ahead, I span thro’ sharpened eyes, Connecting brain. Surprise Awards emotion to the show – A fine refrain. I think I know the source: Without recourse my keen and Eager shoes propel my […]
She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter
She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter Freshly spawned, Brain dumps Bleeding grey: Reflections of a mind That wavers thin Along the line That savours pain – A pond of skin Devoid of breast – The pad a feign: The nothing Underneath your bra At best Is your imagination Spread across a narcoleptic world Suchlike […]
Sculpture of Debris on the Waterfront by Martina Reisz Newberry
Sculpture of Debris on the Waterfront by Martina Reisz Newberry I’ve come to know the way the details of love are a prayer or maybe a polite demand that sets God’s teeth on edge. We most certainly did that: set God’s teeth on edge. Our prayer became fetus and I shed it—dough—before it could become […]
Lines For Winter by Mark Strand
Tell yourself as it gets cold and gray falls from the air that you will go on walking, hearing the same tune no matter where you find yourself — inside the dome of dark or under the cracking white of the moon’s gaze in a valley of snow. Tonight as it gets cold tell yourself […]
Life, wait for me by Martin Zakovski
Just like blank pages, I noticed The wheels of life kept turning Regardless of what was left behind And I called out, ‘Stop, I can’t keep up’ But the pages kept turning Until I finally lost count. End of the poem 15 random poems Poetry by subject Some external links: The Bat’s Own Poetry […]
Question mark remarks by Mark Miller
Question mark remarks by Mark Miller Remnants all shame remained, Woven reflections disillusionment, Humility’s existence sanctioned- Nor I or he states present fear, Toil tirade penciled paper, Benevolent creator of hate, Grace in place, grace in stance- Home’ outside times space, Stranger’s being fakes face- Nobody welcomes the Judas, Of lucid transcendence He, Lies in […]
Life by Marvin Bell
Life by Marvin Bell I leave the office, take the stairs, in time to mail a letter before 3 in the afternoon–the last dispatch. The red, white and blue air mail falls past the slot for foreign mail and hits bottom with a sound that tells me my letter is alone. They will have to […]
Postures by Martina Reisz Newberry
Postures by Martina Reisz Newberry I had a friend who said this: “The only thing that you can count on is loss.” I never quite bought that. I’ve counted on other things: The uncontrolled appetite of Guilt the disarray of Wisdom the long thirsty threads of Desire the short streets of Love the blank stare […]
My Father’s Hats by Mark Irwin
My Father’s Hats by Mark Irwin Sunday mornings I would reach high into his dark closet while standing on a chair and tiptoeing reach higher, touching, sometimes fumbling the soft crowns and imagine I was in a forest, wind hymning through pines, where the musky scent of rain clinging to damp earth was his scent […]
Let Him Free by Mary Etta Metcalf
deep within the soul of mankind lies a dark shadow one so evil even the angels tremble with fear he lies trapped in the recesses of the mind of mankind to let him free will destroy everything we know and value man has always carried this entity locked securely away but there have been extreme […]
Keeping Things Whole by Mark Strand
In a field I am the absence of field. This is always the case. Wherever I am I am what is missing. When I walk I part the air and always the air moves in to fill the spaces where my body’s been. We all have reasons for moving. I move to keep things whole. […]
Please Don’t Judas Me by Mark Miller
Please Don’t Judas Me by Mark Miller Night’s wind o’ whisper Strangled sleep o’ slumber eternal Burned scars by hidden marks Thy Mirrors thought lies feral In quests last stance we reason for circumstance Blank stairs craze vision of virtue- Castaway – hell’s permanent burden Obscure Reflection points portrait of misfortune Platitude uprising life over […]
Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf
Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf light and dark…each having failed us at a time of need…only one is true reaching toward the sky…begging for answers…only to be denied it is your quest…you must succeed to know the truth…to be yourself child of the light…child of the dark…never sure which you are […]