“Happy National Poetry Day and World Poetry Day!” by Barbara Leonhard

And it’s the first day of spring! May each new bloom be a poem! And have you heard of the World Haiku Project? Among other world and nation celebrations, our Missouri State Poet Laureate, Maryfrances Wagner, is promoting Haiku writing across the state. You can read more about it here.  To celebrate all these occasions,…

“Just Me and the Clock” by Dawn Pisturino

Long hours of night creep slowly by. Tick. . . Tick. . . Tick. . . Tick. . . The clock clangs one. I am utterly alone. Just me and the clock. Tock. . . Tock. . . Tock. . . Tock. . . My cares all ceased with the setting sun, But that clock…

“Atlantic Blue” by Sam Moe

I head back to the house after years, after the ocean licked clean most of the sand and ate the edge of porch. I remember now, the magical promise of you every night quiet on floors, house is aglow, snow crabs and horseshoes coat the sand. Branches like hands, myths written on slips of paper,…

“Helen Of Troy” by Michelle Ayon Navajas

if silence had a voice it would have screamed a million battle cries and if Helen of Troy had a choice she would have made a statement when she was stripped down and displayed for men of war to choose.   kidnapped by Paris, or did she willingly escape?   if words could be wounded…

“THIRD DOOR DOWN” by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

(Listening to Astor Piazzola: “Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas”)   He told me it’s the third door down the hall with the bad light, “you’ll find the door unlocked,” he said, “In fact, it’s never closed at night.” And then he lit a cigarette, a smile crossed through his lips, a micro-second gesture then he gestured for…

“Nature’s Kiss” by Jeff Flesch

I feel broken deep in my bones   a manifestation of love and of hope   a paradox, and reality for those that understand their mixture of tropes   strung along a line in the sky where creatures of earth dance   to silent tunes embracing me, and you in rapture   and in bliss…

“Bird talk” by Polly Alice McCann

My Language is the language  of the birds  language has a shape and sound My mother’s voice is an opera  gold and jewel toned.  My voice is a small pink kitten  a sloop of egg yolks. Your voice is a sailboat  a raft of boards with  creaking ropes  a motor each word a whole journey …

“Seventy Bodies Showing Signs of Torture” by Walter Bargen

. . . death it waits for for me in ordinary places where I used to be safe. -Anne Lindbergh On a back road at fifty miles per hour, dust a talcum shadow that powders the soybeans and flowers.  Slur of speed and the only hope rising behind the steering wheel is that no one’s…

“Flames of Love” by Julie A. Dickson

Firelight dances reflected in your eyes flames envelop burning wood slowly glows like your arms surrounding me until I burst into flames of love Copyright © 2023 Julie A.Dickson All Rights Reserved Julie A. Dickson is a poet and writer who advocates for captive elephants and rescues feral cats. Her poetry appears in over 55…

“Love in Hindsight” by Jenny Brav

Memories of you are on replay in my head I miss how you’d hold me in our bed when a nightmare shook me out of sleep I miss your hands on my aching muscles, how easily you fit in with my friends, that you read everything I ever wrote. I miss the sharpness of your…

“Spring Renewal” by Cindy Georgakas

Rain taps on our window, flowers push their way through dirt, the sun kisses our cheek. Rejoice in birthing hope and faith. Say goodbye to darkness and despair, making room for light: Finding renewal. Grateful for new eyes to see, embrace each moment, blessed are we. The sun behind the dark cloud, forces us to…

“Before and Again” by Luanne Castle

The we of my belief lived in a land of easy comfort, brief and surface woundings, even when tussled by history that lasted a month on our portable television.   We swept the broken pieces into piles thinking our bonfires would destroy memories. We continued to sweep invisible gravel, rusted fenders, and chicken shit into…

“EVENTUALLY” by Richard M. Ankers

Eventually, all things fall. There are no predetermined lengths, though guidance abounds. It is the nature of things, if you will, but fall they must. She fell further and faster than most.   # Her wings felt for the first time in forever as she tumbled from the cloud. This was what she would have…

“Equality” by Shalini Kathuria Narang

Reflecting on women’s day about inequality effect, Pressures of juggling home and work are not hard to detect, High time we recognize these imbalances and help deflect, And take serious action beyond recognition and reflect. Societally, we cannot be oblivious to this grave reality, Women’s short and long term wellbeing is not a banality. The…

“The Parachutist” by Tony Ashenden

I am dropping out of the skies huge head whirling like the flower above me singing in the wind. My last home The silver – metal bee drones forward into the sun and I her human seed am reaching for my roots in the glazed earth feet first. Copyright © 2023 Tony Ashenden All Rights…

“Potential” by Ken Gierke

Cornflower, pale at first glance, seems royal blue against a barn’s weathered gray.   Scheherazade, soft and muted, rises to a crescendo, Nikolai’s vision dancing in your mind.   Lips brush the cheek of a child or an elder with comfort and respect, yet become sensuous in a lover’s embrace.   Vanilla on the tongue…

“Archery In The UK Doesn’t Seem To Be Done With Me–A Book Review” by Selma Martin

In late January, I preordered Archery In The UK, by Nick Reeves and Ingrid Wilson read it over the weekend and was just in time to post my honest review on Amazon when the book launched on February 01st. At the same time, I also conveyed my thoughts to the audience that follows my blog, singing the…

“Came to Be” by Julie A. Dickson

Forgive me as I lose myself in love, from this moment held in your embrace; blue skies call, they beckon from above, cloudless as I gaze upon your face.   In morning light we’re walking, hands entwined; at noonday sun we look on azure sea, thoughts of you keep passing through my mind, how we…

“Happiness is an elephant” by Nolcha Fox (and My Review of Fox’s Book, ‘Memory is that raccoon’)

Happiness is an elephant sitting in the best chair, hogging the remote. I can only feed him peanuts and vacuum when he goes to the refrigerator for a beer. Copyright © 2023 Nolcha Fox All Rights Reserved “Happiness is an elephant” appears in Nocha Fox’s new poetry collection, Memory is that raccoon, which is available on…

“Tabula Rasa” by Terry Allen

I told my wife that the times I seem to see the face of God is when I look into the face of our dog, a coon hound with soulful eyes lit with unconditional love and warmth, and it’s not the God of the Old Testament, the God with the terrible swift sword, the God…