Rengay

Old-Time Religion

clinging to faith
an outdoor nativity
in late winter rain

behind the steeple
a guns and ammo sign

guarding baby Jesus 
a metal chicken
with rusted wings

cracked pew
giving up
on the rapture 

two surnames 
in the whole cemetery

wrapped in kudzu
the old rugged cross
leans right

Terri L. French, USA
& Peggy Hale Bilbro, USA



Replacements

dental chair
the drill designer loves
Marathon Man

the faultless grip
of custom pliers

empty sockets . . .
robots perform
eye puff tests

deep learning
all the crevasses
mapped

a chin tuck turns into
rhinoplasty

facial recognition—
everything fades
to white

Richard L. Matta, USA 
& Lorraine A Padden, USA

Travel Insurance

the process
of getting a visa
morning haze

her maiden name
considered an alias

no space on
the multiple choice form
to explain why

still unclear . . .
removing her glasses
for her photo

her different colored eyes
could be a problem

misreading the signs
maybe I am
a robot

Angela Terry, USA
& Julie Schwerin, USA

Tan-Renga

sinking sun
casting dry shadows
across hunger stones

breeze lifts topsoil

single-sheet broadsides

petro c. k., USA
& Jerome Berglund, USA



majestic mood
yours becoming
ours     

whilst the booze

lasts

Jerome Berglund, USA
& Christina Chin, Malaysia



bath time
a paper sailboat crumples
in the tub

mom folds another

piece of junk mail

Christina Chin, Malaysia
& M. R. Defibaugh, USA



long night . . .
her screams restrained 
to the icu bed

the fall and rise

of Hannibal’s tongue

Amoolya Kamalnath, India
& Robert Kingston, UK



autumn noon—
a pelican’s beak full
of the backwaters

among parietal figures

at the Cosquer cave

Amoolya Kamalnath, India
& Robert Kingston, UK

Sequences

Ever Before

between fairy tales—
telling Grandma
what a voice she has

father’s words
the scrape of a butter knife
across burnt toast

old tree house
handing down his dream
to be a pilot

unlocked diary
his i’s all dotted 
with open hearts

Tonka truck
digging out 
her inner child

just past midnight
Cinderella and
her bunions

Edward Cody Huddleston, USA
& Terri L. French, US



late day blues  

d

g r o w i n g  o l d 

m

m e m o r y  l a n e 

l

w a i t i n g  r o o m 

n

g l o b a l  w a r m i n g  

u

f a i t h   m a t t e r s 

d

m o b i l e  d a t a  

f 
b u c k e t  l i s t 

LeRoy Gorman, Canada 



Middle Ages

a new lease on life vasectomy

draining the swamp my indiscretions

Sex Pistols the needle worn through

tempted a well-placed squeeze

half my age this fine vintage

last button opening the lily

Bryan Rickert, USA
& Peter Jastermsky, USA



Reality Show

Instagram insists 
leggings are pants
the Anthropocene arrives

exploitation
is the new black
Anthropocene constellations

Anthropocene moon
fussing over daycare for her 
goldendoodle

scheduling surgery
for his deviated septum
Anthropocene snow 

Anthropocene spring
a Bud Lite six-pack ring fascinates 
the hawksbill hatchling

finding another doctor
to misdiagnose her hypochondria
the Anthropocene deepens

marketing consultants
discuss different shapes of plastic
Anthropocene blossoms

you can’t burn
books that don’t exist
Anthropocene autumn

Anthropocene trillionaire
little hands get the most 
lithium ore

selling used haute couture
as a side hustle
Anthropocene economics

Icarus just shrugs
and lights a scented candle
Anthropocene sun 

Joshua St. Claire, USA

Split Sequences

From My Navel to the Cosmos

in my mind’s eye

lotus flower

base jumping

into the ether

the cliff-notes version

a constant

act of returning

prayer beads

of reality

grounding

the mountain

inside myself

Shloka Shankar, India
& rs, Middletown, Delaware, USA

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