The Girl from Southhall by Nigel Byng

“Ignorance is an incredibly confident state of delusion. It is a lesson I need to learn.” I was scolding myself on my way home. I had been naïve. And my shallow, limited, immature view of people had exposed me to a very harsh reality. I guess the speed of globalization had unconsciously stirred to the…

In Memory of Sarah King by Tony Ashenden

Had you known your granite headstone                                         would be flanked by two unknowns                                               you might have thought it significant;                                           as yours stands tall like one chosen                                                compared to their drunken faces. The tree that shadows where you lay                                                         its sloughed bark being last to view                                               the moonlights felicitations;                                                           In…

Un(answered) by Shobana Gomes

Once, I looked across the distance, It had the makings of an age-old civilization, Intrigued, I saw two people walking, they created another kind of distraction. Maybe it was the girl, or was it the boy who followed behind, quietly, maybe hoping the girl wouldn’t turn back, Shy and awkward, I sensed he wouldn’t know…

Sea of Trees by Michael L. Utley

To slake my thirst With dew from leaves that never see the light Arboreal the tears that fall and quench The darkest dreams To fill my bowels With loam whose cloying scent bespeaks of death Arboreal the taste of living earth My hunger begs To see the gleam ‘Neath tenebrous shadows and rayless groves Arboreal…

Wolf Head Hands by Bogdan Dragos

Thick socks that my grandma made for me from wool I see them lying on the rug at the foot of the bed and they look like the heads of wolves in waiting waiting in the snow behind bushes dry with frost I grab them and slide them down my fists like gloves I have…

Fairy Feast by Joni Caggiano

vanish into sultry eyeless air, baffling fog senses dimly pale as love sealing hearts alike elegant evening primrose my dainty fingers elongate, grow sensors fondling tree swing holding your last laugh stars cry gilded tears leaving trails of wispy light floating the moon covers her glow with a red umbrella fairies, will you mourn losses…

The Meg-a-Mansion by Don Matthews

They’ve both just bought a mansion Splashed out twenty mill Theatre, resort-size swimming pool Sixteen bathrooms as well Which makes things nice, convenient No more they’ll have to wait At the shower entrance For other to vacate It also has a tennis court When naught they have to do With gin and tonics served by…

Rift by Bharath Upendra

The night sky looked sickly with tiny spots all over. A pale white mole dominates the canvas, like an infected bump that has always been there. It pervades the mind as I close my eyes, ferrying myself into a world far away from the one I inhabit. The hard ground, prickly grass, and a scathingly gentle breeze…

Flowers Strung by Jeff Flesch

There is a way pain feels deep in my bones a notion of the past and of a present yet to be fully manifest deep aches rejuvenated by a skyline left leaking along a horizon melting love into plants and flowers strung together like a bow tried, and true a manifestation too of you who…

Onion Tears by Britta Benson

I love onion tears, their source always clear, undisputed, undiluted, matter of fact, self explanatory. Not like sadness tears, silly sausage tears, confused confession tears, overwhelmed panic tears, angry frustration tears, worst of all, simple teary tears, attacking at will, never mine, out of the blue, the turquoise and even the yellow. I love onion…

Lost Talent by Bogdan Dragos

sitting alone on the orange living room sofa at 02:21 in the night thinking trying to feel something other than hatred and rage In older times, with a younger self, a book might have helped Not anymore The book she was holding now was one for children A coloring book and the pencils were scattered…

The Baritone by Nigel Byng

Life had brought him to a crossroad. Well, perhaps it was more like a roundabout with five or six exits, and he was stuck in the wrong lane. Because every time his arrogance had brought him to a fork in the road, he had chosen to keep going straight. Francis had made his own path….

Cusp of Spring by Joni Caggiano

youthful buds whisper tiny voices animate stolen secrets weave does, calves leaping jesting with siblings grassland tickles bare shoulder, he is smitten giggles come softly fledgling’s plump lips quiver as butterfly kisses on soft velvety cheeks elicit joyous moans amidst tears, she utters love you, my cherished red-headed woodpecker plays a jazzy drum beat on…

NO by Michelle Ayon – Navajas

Why men rape is unknown to most. No one can tell. Some say it is a pathological assertion of power over a victim. The news would tell us that sexual abuse is usually done by men under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. Little do we hear about a perpetrator who is kind, intelligent,…

Notes from Space by Aditi Anvita

I have painted my dreams On sparkling textures In the infinity of the universe The galaxies have whispered They wish to adopt some shades. My caroling heart Has recited its poems Effusing benevolence Stellar vibrations have revealed They wish to entail those rhythms. I have drawn a precise map With checkpoints in my life On…

The most fun activity in which you don’t smile by Bogdan Dragos

she’s got this big lizard that I don’t even know the name of and walks it around in a baby stroller “It needs the sun,” she says. “And it needs me as her mother.” When she’s not at her dish-washing job at the two-star restaurant she’s scouting the local park, looking for trees with bird…