Flying a Sign – By Chrystal Berche Wild eyed woman, her hair a mess Shakes as she goes person to person begging for cigarettes A foot away an old man sleeps, his head pillowed on a graying jacket ‘Will work for food’ printed neatly on a sign tied to his chest What place is this where ‘flying a sign’ is […]
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I Want to Be in a Comic Book From the flashing pages of my youth, I have wanted to be in a comic book. I designed my suit, considered my powers and weapons. I imagined a damsel in distress. Even thought of my perfect lair. On my swing set, I would consider this universe of my making. I set about […]
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Hartwell Lake Across the street from the lake house there is a bait shop. I go there to get gasoline for the boat. I can see the green swells, that slowly turn to navy. The wind forgets the clouds like the ones I forget. The sun is on my shoulders, as far as the wake I leave behind. Blue sky […]
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Enigma – By Elaine Nadal The bells tolled. I heard them. S l o w l y LOUDER Numbing my body. Obscuring my vision. Searching for color in my subconscious… I found images: games, gatherings, horse rides– artifices sufficing for a time. An unrecognizable figure putrefied instantly, leaving ashes S E E P I N G It burns. My […]
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Darker by Mike MatterThe lights linger through the ache in my head and a smile flashes for an instant The memory of a past and future to preoccupy me mindfully paces before my the end of day and I type once more in victory and defeat while settling for a middle ground like a battlefield where the warhorse struggles in […]
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Blood and Tears. War and Hate. Death and Destruction. Hell and Fate. I am dead because I’m not you. What you said? Hate is not true. Why cleanse me? Are you blind? We are brothers. Open your mind. Why ignore that? It’s a fact. We’re both human, so don’t attack. I pity you with your dead. […]
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ONE MORE DAY – By Roger Singer The moons circled my dark night room, slipping in silent celestial paths until morning forces my separation from sleep. I cast off arms of blankets and wrappings as slivers of morning cross sharply over me. Cool air drifts over my windows ledge, satisfying my room with aroma, stirring the grasp I have yet […]
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Destinations – By Gil Hoy A lizard crossed my path with no skin, Just armor for protection from car treads and sun tan lotion to keep the sun’s rays out. Its tongue had just scooped up an unsuspecting grasshopper who had hopped off a blade of glistening wet grass, not knowing what was coming— having just kissed the wife and […]
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rpm (rhetorical paradoxi-metaphorisis) scleras, snow white pupils, dilated. brain box, sparking incandescently. he asks the physician: ‘tell me doctor, what’s my malady?’ stares at his sloppy zig-zag manuscript and replies ‘rpm’. not comprehending, he utters, ‘excuse me?’, physician expatiates: ‘rhetorical paradoxi-metaphorisis, a rare cerebral disorder in which the forebrain “wordyfactures” weird grandiloquent and aesthetic phrases and clauses sub- consciously, using […]
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Parents Night Emma used to do real good in school her mother tells her new teacher. It’s Parents Night at Ryland Elementary. Mostly mothers in attendance. What’s the problem, her mother asks. Fifth grade shouldn’t be hard for her. Emma’s never had a grade lower than a B, her mother says. Teacher says Emma doesn’t do her homework and talks a lot in class. Her mother can’t believe it. Says her […]
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