Careless Consumption The tide slowly ebbs from Florida shores so tourists walk the beaches without getting wet, never wondering why there are no more seashells. The ocean looks the same to them, not realizing the muddy water was once clear blue, completely untainted. The fishes are departing scooped up in massive nets that do not recognize the need to feed […]
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LIFE, A HOBBY (By Joseph Cavera) Let it never be said that each of us would be better off without a hobby. A small side directive of which to begin, where new aspects of life await, waiting to be mapped and measured. For some, the charm lies carving small creations from bits of wood. For others, sailing on a […]
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Every once in awhile over the last 40 years Ralph wondered what might have happened to the guy who had moved in with the mother of his children and drank all the time. He remembered the kids saying when they were small the fellow got up one night to go to the bathroom and got lost in the hallway went back to […]
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Crossing the Red Line (triptychon III) 1. On the Map On the map: The red line of the lignite opencast mine, an absurdly long compound noun for an absurd, behind the times mega project. What can be found, here and now, this side and that side of the red line? I experience it by bike. 2. That […]
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CLAIM FOR THE MEEK (By John Biscello) I do not want to see the face of God. I want to see her mask, where and for whom it cracked, the causal history of lines and fissures; want to trace, with blind mute innocence, the light quartered and drawn in Braille, its grooves holding, without strain or regret, Mercy’s hidden […]
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Waiting Out a Storm I consider the peculiar heft of ostensibly touchable clouds, the gray and black mix that puff out of the last of the azure. Hints of sapphire seem to keep the rain at bay, but the sky is talking and I am listening. It will not be the type of rain for which the flowers open their […]
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Vanquished by, Melissa R. Mendelson The vulture flew around in circles as its prey awoke to a world slipping apart piece after piece while the bald eagle lay buried in the sand. The vulture swooped by and ripped open an arm with its sharp beak as the prey screamed out in pain, which echoed over the vast land. The […]
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Sometimes I wonder If I have anything left to give Any small pieces of myself left to share I feel too broken Too worn out Thread bare and bone-tired I search myself and find nothing worthy My emotions, my words are hollow My heart is emptier than my belly I feel it gnawing away within me Desperate for something to […]
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CRIMEAN PUNISHMENT Apparently,once the gods had fumed Atgrowing decadence, they were doomed. Nolonger culture pre-eminent, Atlantisunder the sea was sent. Competingtheories have been put forth Ofancient civilization north Ofwhere the Black Sea has always lain Ononce quite fertile Crimean plain. Onefaction claims Plato had it right – Atlantisvanished in just one night Whenearthquake cracked geologic flaw Releasingdeluge […]
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An Act of the Will If love’s real, not the puppy kind, it’s not just a feeling but an act of the will a constant giving whether one feels like it or not. After many years you don’t know why you’re doing it or why It must be done. Two begin as grapes purple with passion unaware you’ll be raisins wrinkling at the end.
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