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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Poem By SIMON PERCHIK * Louder! though what comes by has already withered and along a certain curve your voice tapers off as the path bent over her shoulders spreading its flow into sunlight now riverbank and whisper –you need two mouths now that every splash smells from stones once it rises to the surface in that […]
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What We Notice – By Gil Hoy I first lived like a tadpole swimming up-current in a raging river Not noticing that I’d been crowned heavyweight champion of the world, the impossible odds overcome, or the miraculous union with my waiting cell that might otherwise have been washed away and lost. The lesson is that you have already overcome […]
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CITY DAYS (By Joseph Cavera) Tall, tin, and seemingly endless But if viewed from the top It appears quite bottomless- Lights are as myriad as the stars All lie on seemingly innumerable bars, Story after story Tale after Tale, And as time flows on Never become stale. At the bottom, is the lobby And at the top is the […]
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THE MAN WHO ATE HIS BOOTS I remember now. Air so still you could hear it breathing through the frozen shrouds, the crack of floes caressing hulls as if ships could talk to each other. Men slept fully clothed, smoked, drank tea, cooked, read books from the library, and pretended that this was all normal. On holidays […]
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WINTER, A LOVE STORY (By John Biscello) Winter’s brides, wearing long white scarves of sleet and song, touching pale sky to blue lips, breathing memory and frost; their sorrow and spectral want grows hands that enclose me, a robust crush, matrimonial in its grip, until I am no more than a whiff of air, and then, not even that, […]
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BLACK PARADISE (By Joseph Cavera) A life begins at a simple stage Like ink falling gently onto the fibers of a page While it is true enough that we start with nil The chapters of our lives will quickly fill We have been brought into a mysterious world… We stand swiftly, only to return to the ground Mistakes […]
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HOW I KEEP FIT – By John Grey The sidewalks in the city are like exercise equipment. There’s a mix of long strides on the cement treadmill and the shorter, quicker gait of the elliptical workout. A few stand at the street corner, stationary pedaling while waiting for the lights to change. Some hoist brown briefcase dumbbells. Others try the […]
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EMBRACING CHAOS – By Ray Gallucci The eye of a hurricane never can know How forcefully all its surrounding winds blow. For there in the center all’s peacefully calm While swirling around are explosions of bombs. But center is where all the chaos begins — In vertical columns air rises then spins. While most relish lull, others seek out the […]
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Tequila (V5) By Michael Lee Johnson Single life is Tequila with a slice of lime, Shots offered my traveling strangers. Play them all deal them jacks, some diamonds then spades, hold back aces play hardball, mock the jokers. Paraplegic aging tumblers toss rocks, Their dice go for the one-night stand. Poltergeist fluid define another frame. Female dancers in the […]
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