as the crow flies fentanyl
#newalgoirthm
#theadvertisersknowingme
#betterthanme
Aaron Barry, Canada
PhD journey
all the coffee brands
I know
Adjei Agyei-Baah, Ghana/New Zealand
Valentine’s Day
my feelings and I eat
another chocolate
Agnes Eva Savich, USA
bumper to bumper
she proposes
leather
mastectomy scars
all but my husband
swipe left
suicide watch
another hand
of Go Fish
Aidan Castle, USA
secondhand book––
clear as day
what happened
to granda
Alan Peat, United Kingdom
shot glass
another wasted
pickup line
Alvin B. Cruz, Philippines
no seeds left to sow his vasectomy
Amber Winter, USA
citizenship test
dad thumbs the pages
from right to left
ballpark hotdog––
we try out
being American
Antoinette Cheung, Canada
calling mom
on new years. . .
pouring another
B.A. France, USA
the world news
I eat my apple
core and all
Barbara Sabol, USA
southern christmas
the crackling fire
onscreen
Barbara Strang, New Zealand
re-opening . . .
the server remembers
my standing order
Barrie Levine, USA
all the fiction
in my truth
campfire stories
Ben Gaa, USA
dinner date
not that hungry
for you
Benedict Grant, Canada
resuming chemo
midtown traffic
stop and go
“make a wish . . .”
I pretend
I’m pretending
end of the day
slow dancing
by myself
Bill Kenney, USA
discount roses
the price for being
second best
coworker’s suicide
all her things
in one box
breastfeeding
how quickly she latches on
to motherhood
Bryan Rickert, USA
depression . . .
I slip a little further
under the duvet
C.X.Turner, United Kingdom
showing me her art
the razor blade
on her nightstand
broken ribs
more than a carved turkey
at thanksgiving
Claire Vogel Camargo, USA
police car passing
on the left––
my first bag of pot
Curt Pawlisch, USA
fifty-first birthday . . .
I open another
emoji
Dave Read, Canada
midsummer
adding a city
to my weather app
David Grayson, USA
accidental
the note we found
when you didn’t die
David J. Kelly, Ireland
958.104
another war
shelved
Debbie Olson, USA
connecting . . .
the circling sun
of my isolation
Deborah P Kolodji, USA
getting his ego bruised nectarines
birthday alone
this urge to entertain
a wild thought
Elmedin Kadric, Sweden
the screen door ajar open adoption
Erin Castaldi, USA
new love
the brickwork
of a footpath
Frank Dax, South Korea
listening to Lennon
I arrange books as if I’ll live
one last shelf
Frank Higgins, USA
language lessons
my tongue slides
on cerveza
dress rehearsal
my DNA
in a pink tutu
Genevieve Wynand, Canada
corner cubicle
the flies don’t want to be here
either
Gordon Brown, USA
school uniform
keeping the conception
immaculate
Hazel Hall, Australia
sunset . . .
the legs
I always wanted
Helene Guojah, United Kingdom
root canal
the dentist digs deeper
into my past
Hifsa Ashraf, Pakistan
red ochre road
the long walk
to the nearest clinic
Ingrid Baluchi, North Macedonia
woodpecker taps . . .
my dad recalls
his Morse code days
Jay Friedenberg, USA
kindergarten
her corkscrew curls
at full bounce
Jo Balistreri, USA
all night diner
a party of one seated
on every stool
google earth
an unsuccessful search
for Brigadoon
car backfire
the schoolyard bully
holsters his finger
Joe McKeon, USA
mint julep
her lips taste
of goodbye
lesbian porn
I wish I had been born
a better man
John Hawkhead, United Kingdom
six yuan for lunch––
her head hidden behind
the begging board
John Zheng, USA
Sweetest Day
she shows off
her new vibrator
weekly visitation
the struggle to compete
with YouTube videos
Joshua Gage, USA
frozen pension
the boomer scoffs
at his son’s debt
head-banging
the air where the hair
used to be
cost of living raise
another year
in the tuna can
Joshua St. Claire, USA
Rubenesque––
too much of me
to love
application rewritten history my job
rewritten history my job application
history my job application rewritten
my job application rewritten historyjob application rewritten history my
Julie Bloss Kelsey, USA
post-apocalypse
Alexa asks herself
to read a poem
Julie Schwerin, USA
eleventh hour . . .
she asks me to sing
a lullaby
Kat Lehmann, USA
family evening
everyone left
to their own devices
trying to be
ordinary
impostor syndrome
Keith Evetts, United Kingdom
three sheets the one-man jug band
abandonment issues
waiting for
the sauce to split
Kelly Sauvage, USA
the holy man says
befriend your pain
I suggest
to my sore hip
that we talk over zoom
Ken Slaughter, USA
crowd of candles
my wish for
another birthday
Laurie D. Morrissey, USA
what a jury knows
what a jury doesn’t
cherry blossoms
LeRoy Gorman, Canada
Burial Insurance––
her spam folder
gets personal
#MeToo rally . . .
his wolf-whistle
extinct
Maria Bonsanti, USA
New Year’s card
so often the word
health this year
Marie Derley, Belgium
sidewinder
how he skirts
their gender
Marilyn Ashbaugh, USA
pink twitch
of a rabbit’s nose
she sniffs the wine
Marilyn Fleming, USA
writer’s café . . .
unsticking the mug
from the table
Mary Stevens, USA
highwaypileup
unable to get through
to her
Matt Olechnowicz, Canada
forgetting you
perhaps . . . but not
when the bell tolls
Meg Arnot, United Kingdom
father’s day:
showing my lover
childhood scars
Michael Battisto, USA
mega church
everyone sticks
to their guns
roadkill
accounting for the last
of the kittens
Michael Henry Lee, USA
a boy asks about
the people in that church
silent night
granddad’s rabbit’s foot
the littlest one takes
a step back
Mike White, USA
office loop––
my child grows
unnoticed
Milan Rajkumar, India
making a mountain
out of a mole
––melanoma
Nancy Brady, USA
on a rock
turtle on a turtle
nudist beach
Neena Singh, India
recycling day––
my overindulgence
on display
Nick T, United Kingdom
our plans . . .
the straight paths
of a cemetery
Nikolay Grankin, Russia
at peace with my darkness stacking up red red apples
one margarita slowly i become Nostradamus
Orrin PréJean-Champs, USA
interview––
choosing
a background
P. H. Fischer, Canada
downpour
wipers and curses
in sync
newcomer
the circle widens
for my story
Pat Davis, USA
jumper cables
not a transcendent thought
in my head
Patrick Sweeney, Japan
the last lilacs––
adjusting the purple
of my prose
Pippa Phillips, USA
first-time guest
the lags
in alleluia
retirement day
father introduces me
to his routine
Ramesh Anand, India
visiting Vietnam
I repatriate
my hat and shirt
the applause
of autumn rain
40 years of service
Raymond C Roy, USA
mom’s layer cake
coated with icing
the salty sprinkles
of yesteryears
she bottled up
Richard L. Matta, USA
high school sweetheart
a lab assistant
re-dates a fossil
Robert Witmer, Japan
nowhere to go
the repeated pattern
of mum’s old cardigan
Robyn Cairns, Australia
stoking the coals
I ask Mother
who is her favorite
Ronald Degler, USA
ladies’ room––
stepping on the scale
without her earrings
Ruth Holzer, USA
my face
unlocking the computer
update requests
Sarah E. Metzler, USA
breaking inside of you night’s thin shell
Shloka Shankar, India
recharging
his equipment
friday night
his blue eyes
before my fingers
were crooked
Sondra J. Byrnes, USA
maritime museum
the creak and sway
of immigrant ships
Sue Courtney, New Zealand
hot flash
what I’d give
for a cold one
a woman
swallowed whole
by a python
some days
are like that
Susan Burch, USA
housecleaning––
I shed some more
wounded skin
Tim Murphy, Spain
unfinished bowl
a potter shapes
the air
Tyler McIntosh, USA
exorcism
every time I say
I am gay
Vandana Parashar, India
ordinary day––
i pick
an ordinary death
Vijay Prasad, India
sunday morning
the laundry rope
crosses her lifeline
Vladislav Hristov, Bulgaria
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