small town
searching the classifieds
for livestock
Aaron Barry, Canada
easter
the empty
church
Adam T. Arn, USA
hot sake . . .
I barely remember
her name
Agus Maulana Sunjaya, Indonesia
salt and pepper
to taste
rebound boyfriend
Aidan Castle, USA
snowbound in light the other side of an election
Alan Summers, United Kingdom
wilted palm branch
the child practices
sweeping the path
private parts
she shows me
her sketchbook
Alex Fyffe, USA
end of 2020
gathering around the warmth
of the webcam
Antonietta Losito, Italy
change coming . . .
the reassuring mantra
fails to reassure
last third
of the poetry journal
. . . pouring scotch
B.A. France, USA
that turned-down smile
men now give me––
middle age
Barbara Sabol, USA
hanging the wall calendar
less birthdays
this year
Barrie Levine, USA
walking home
from the pub
the moon
goes the wrong
way
spider on my wall
every day the death count
higher
lockdown the key to get out of missing you
Bee Jay, Australia
to love
honour and obey . . .
bursting bubbles
Benedict Grant, Canada
souvenir shop
picking up the local’s
swear words
Billy Antonio, Philippines
con
tact
less
Bisshie, Switzerland
revising my will
someone else gets a lot
of nothing
Bob Lucky, Portugal
childhood
Mom and I remember it
differently
Brad Bennett, USA
mock apple pie
finally accepting
the real me
Bryan Rickert, USA
my haiku
about Gödel’s Theorem
incompl
Charles Harmon, USA
at the briefing
the photogenic PM talks
of racism
this nightlong buzz
from a streetlamp
Chen-ou Liu, Canada
new farmers’ market
trendy microgreens
from the refugee garden
Christine Wenk-Harrison, USA
awake all night
consulting a galaxy
far, far away
trying
a new identity
on for size––
a stretch
but not a good fit
Cynthia Anderson, USA
photo op . . .
the candidate crops
his record
spring colours . . .
I brush in
Just for Men
Dave Read, Canada
evening road
the exhaust
of cheap cologne
David Käwika Eyre, USA
inner critic
editing my poem
to a blank page
Debbi Antebi, United Kingdom
those same signs
the white dress
of a suffragette
Deborah P Kolodji, USA
death bed the joke i’ve saved for this day
Elancharan Gunasekaran, Singapore
in between stars
the question of fidelity
custody battle
the old scar looks new
Elisa Theriana, Indonesia
her joke
still not funny
family text thread
Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco, USA
war talk materializes innocent bystanders
last leaves
seeing my courage
for what it is
homesick
a few minutes after
the roadkill
Elmedin Kadric, Sweden
shinrin yoku––
my mountain bike
enfolds an aspen
blocking carefully
the dancer turns away
from her therapist
spa getaway––
the fix on our marriage
only skin deep
Eric Lohman, USA
checking the facts
the anchor adjusts
his glasses
Eva Limbach, Germany
advice from
a greying poet . . .
swipe left
Genevieve Wynand, Canada
playground
waiting my turn
for the bench
Memorial Day
the auctioneer asks
for a moment of silence
Greg Schwartz, USA
the mechanics of enemies I decline into fractional sums
GRIX, USA
morning playground
a toddler mansplains
hide-and-seek
Hannah Mahoney, USA
where oceans meet overlapping symptoms
once again
the coos of a pigeon
news on rape
Hemapriya Chellappan, India
night drizzle . . .
an uninterrupted lullaby
of the refugee mother
pulling back
her black hijab
evening storm
fading out
the muezzin’s call––
torrential rain
Hifsa Ashraf, Pakistan
PTSD
the tremor in the flame
he fails to trim
J. Zimmerman, USA
my daughter
tightens her grasp
. . . deep end
James Schlett, USA
making pies four generations into pumpkin and pecan
Jo Balistreti, USA
men’s club
eons of evolution
on the half shell
manicured lawn
the candidate’s sign
by a rabbit hole
spit-shined shoes
the Purple Heart vet
rolls to the mic
blacktop road
men in orange jumpsuits
among the litter
Joe McKeon, USA
retirement day
the realisation
I’m ready for jazz
John Hawkhead, United Kingdom
visitation day
funeral director cleans
the welcome mat
John J. Dunphy, USA
watering hole
father sinks
another beer
John McManus, United Kingdom
last cigarette
I cling to my side
of the argument
Joshua Gage, USA
damned if I do
damned if I don’t
trauma therapy
Julie Bloss Kelsey, USA
when the knots
were on purpose
daisy chains
June Rose Dowis, USA
buried
in an unclaimed field
her childhood dreams
Kat Lehmann, USA
wide awake
counting the skeins
of unknit woolens
resisting the urge
to pull on a tangled thread
family argument
Kate MacQueen, USA
virgin birth
even though I wasn’t born
yesterday
Kath Abela Wilson, USA
Kelly Sauvage Angel, USA
family dinner
I find fault
with the silverware
summer Zoom meeting
the backyard birds
refuse to mute
Kristen Lindquist, USA
but for an ill-timed
sneeze––
silent prayer
forty years old
my future doctor
is born
Laurie D. Morrissey, USA
our old coal house
the scent
of black and blue
a horsefly dying
under the jar
this side of me
migrant worker
turning the apples
bruises down
Lew Watts, USA
talk of recounts––
i pitch more kernels
into the popcorn pot
Lori Becherer, USA
afternoon shadow
writing my own
eulogy
Louise Hopewell, Australia
sherpa
only carrying
my libido
Lucia Fontana, Italy
grandmother
hand-stitching a new breast
from flour sack
Marilyn Fleming, USA
Mark Bowler, United Kingdom
watching
the hour hand move
half a bottle left
Marta Chocilowska, Poland
trying to determine
if he’s looking at me––
group zoom call
Mary McCormack, USA
wishbone––
on the short end
of a love triangle
Mary Stevens, USA
lockdown
opening up
the liquor cabinet
I take inventory
of essentials
quarantine
I pull a grey hair
from my brush
lockdown #2
my second chance
not to learn
how to cook, bake, sew,
speak another language
Maureen Virchau, USA
ellipsis all the lines I could have lived
Meg Arnot, United Kingdom
crossing the bridge
our last argument
in the rearview mirror
Michael Kitchen, USA
developing
a complex
about my simplicity
rifle shot
the time it takes
to turn my head
Mike Rehling, USA
a foot
in the door
stepfather
Mike White, USA
espresso coffee . . .
what she knows of my
daily grind
Trevi fountain
she tosses two coins
I, three
Milan Rajkumar, India
blowing bubbles . . .
grandpa loses
his wrinkles
Neena Singh, India
watering
all my roses
valentine’s day
Neha Talreja, India
evening walk
everyone’s version
of six feet
Nick Hoffman, Ireland
blooming cactus
my mom’s
first steps
Nikolay Grankin, Russia
spilled milk
the new mother cries
over her pump
papa’s story
in his sighs
another story
Pat Davis, USA
undressing in the dark
with every year
more apologies
Peter Jastermsky, USA
long weekend
learning to talk
to the cat
Philmore Place, Belarus
through a window––
the neighbor’s window
Pippa Phillips, USA
solemn night
how carefully
words exit
Richa Sharma, India
Y chromosome
the long arm
of the law
Robert Davey, United Kingdom
age five––
it’s not your fault
mother says
birth of a death poem
Roberta Beach Jacobson, USA
first day of spring
the lawnmower fails
to fix itself
Rp Verlaine, USA
corona Christmas––
the tree decorated
with IOUs
Ruth Holzer, USA
morning news
I add to my coffee
a couple of wars
Sanela Pliško, Croatia
a break
in her voice also
valentine’s day
Sarah E. Metzler, USA
confession––
a strand of long hair
on his purple chasuble
Silva Trstenjak, Croatia
50th reunion
this is why no one
stayed in touch
Sondra J. Byrnes, USA
Lip Reading
home alone . . .
mother’s lipstick
on her lips
nude lipstick
the teacher’s wry
smile
under her mask
big sister’s lipstick . . .
first date
following
his gaze to her mouth…
lip reading
lip liner
learning to say
no
Stella Pierides, Germany & United Kingdom
friend’s funeral
I am the one
a stranger
Suraj Nanu, India
seances . . .
even the spirits don’t
talk to me
Surashree Joshi, India
squeezing
the hanger––
how easily
you get bent
out of shape
Susan Burch, USA
beach party––
another throw
of the dice
Susan King, United Kingdom
empty glass
psychoanalyzing
her emoticons
Tanya McDonald, USA
damp dawn
in these coughs
my father appears
Ted Sherman, United Kingdom
concealing her smile
under a burqa––
shadowed moon
Teji Sethi, India
OCD
the whole world
in a crooked frame
Terri L. French, USA
smoker’s cough
the nervous words
of the doctor
Tim Gardiner, United Kingdom
detox
I don’t ask anyone
how I look
Vandana Parashar, India
family reunion
drowning in
my gene pool
Wayne Runningbuck Hunt, USA
relearning
the etiquettes of life
language lessons
Zahra Mughis, Pakistan
