Poetry can take time. Poetry needs silence. Taking breaks and allowing yourself to calibrate and feel and live between the words and lines makes all the difference. You are a poet even when you aren’t “writing.” Continue reading Yes Poetry Magazine
by Catherine Zickgraf That December,home from school,I’d finish my shift at 3 a.m. My hands cracked gripping the wheel.My breath froze in my lungsI though they’d turn to stone. The houses, too, were hollow.The road, too, unlit.My job was to go home. I sat on the steps one afternoonwith my morning coffeeand watched: My younger … Continue reading Signing Forms
by Catherine Zickgraf Paper neighbors drape my couch.They hold the baby,bake casseroles I can’t taste.I nibble when he sleepsor sleep when he napsafter I’ve boiled the bottlesand washed some spoons. I awoke this morning on the roll of toilet paper.Seems it cushioned my cheek sufficientlywhen I slipped near dawn down the tiles. Postpartum lasts at … Continue reading Postpartum
by Catherine Zickgraf We were empty-eyed cinder blocks,ringed keys unlocking the doorknobs. Among junior high’s sleepy congregation,an audience of our class’s generation,only some of us showed up praised and amen-ed. School taught me typing for college essaysand gave me chances to run away. We’d flood from the school at 3:05—but only some return now for … Continue reading Eighth Grade
Evolution The scientists said trees grow, I watched one awhile and no they do not. Invisible Minority They are not ghosts that prowl the earth down lanes of truth with greed for sight. & & J.S. MacLean J.S. MacLean has been writing poetry since the early 70s with two collections “Molasses Smothered Lemon Slices” and … Continue reading Two Poems by J.S. MacLean
Loneliness Loneliness a white sheet drawn over me at night, my naked body unaccustomed to the weight. River’s Edge I’ve never swum in a river for fear of tides and my dead uncle. My father made us learn to swim in pools even as he stood on the edge, himself unable. Vacations, my mother left … Continue reading Two Poems by Heidi Slettedahl
If you’re in the position to help others…do it. Continue reading Kristel Asayel
by Lauren Bender quickly, the rulesof shacking up in a she shed.turn away from your real houselike others turn away fromsatan, sparkling with distaste.display your set of chairs and theirsoft porch cushions. embrace thosewho register words rather thanhow outrageous the words are.those who don’t see bold as the backboneof greatness. then take your thoughtsand hobbies … Continue reading She Said
by Lauren Bender Her sweater takes your hand without bite,her head lifts to watch you dispense your charity. Her eye peels your skin away, and your insidesscrunch up and then fold in on themselves like many palms covering faces as they buckleto weepiness. Things flutter in your chest, you start to understand that it’s not … Continue reading The Best You Can Do
by Lauren Bender I pack my identity guides, flip and re-flip the pages in my quest to makea catalognot just of what I am and not just of what I think I amor what I would like to think I ambut what I could be. Most important of all those possibilities, and the waymy astrological … Continue reading Business Trips
Dream Noir 