Oh No, Not Another Massacre by Don Matthews

We are a happy familyEnjoying Christmas funAbout to have our turkey(Bang) shot with our gun Johnny got an AK9 for Christmas……It was on his wish list…… We go to church on SundayHave our guns all blessedPriest he does the honours(Pope was once our guest) We gave him a demonstration in the churchyard…… Neighbours were not…

Lady of Strength by Joni Caggiano

the glimmer of hope hiding in the reflection of earth’s regal eyes last petal of a floret hangs heroic in cold wind star visits dipped in chocolate sings to me lady, of perpetual strength I fly toward the sun cirrus clouds as wings my chariot flies to the echo of prayers going skyward  -JONI CAGGIANO Joni’s…

Therapy by Don Matthews

I have a stack of poems, (thoughts) Need to get off my chest And now I have a website Can offload weak (and best) It doesn’t matter what they are It is my therapy Which every writer wants to do With me? it’s poetry There is the constant tug-of-war Write for myself or you? This…

My Tigers by Britta Benson

The things I see, the things I think, dream, imagine, which ones are real? Which ones are more real? The things I see, are, for me. The things I think, dream, imagine, are, for me. Even my tigers. If I pack them into the box of language, can I make you see them too? Can…

Slaughter by Tony Ashenden

And their vacant eyes; to me dull, relative brother-like, unto my blood. Lesser and labelled more the beast for being servant, yet I fear I fit my moulding them too perfectly. To moo  and peer moronically alive  cross thicket hedge, un-decides the place of puppet and the master, their voices turn the thicket’s harsh of…

Known Before Death by Joni Caggiano

ennoble the chaste grandeur words wrap around my neck like a quill and crimson shawl sincere lexes, gilded stardust my heart lay bare to nameless shall you leave me in meadows or make a crown of gardenias to lay upon a place of dubious rest or will this poet’s heart pass the test -JONI CAGGIANO…

My Tin Money Box 1950’s by Don Matthews

I remember quite fondly my money box Just starting my life out at school Tin, no way in I could borrow Thrift acquired young was the rule My passbook (from bank) it recorded The money I’d saved in my tin Collected each week by the teller Riding his bike all way in (Friday if I…

Time’s Ashes by Jeff Flesch

I drive in circles manifesting a purpose given to me as a child it’s these coattails of peace and love I ride transcending pain, a realization arises like petals falling from my heart a dew-covered and encapsulated light invades my mind with love making ashes out of notions of time -JEFF FLESCH Jeff Flesch lives…

No Emperor’s Head by Tony Ashenden

Who wore the hat of Roman kind                                                           led armies of the blind in Laos                                                   Vietnam and Cambodia?                                                                        Then who challenged the just                                                                anointed crown in Britannica                                                     Planted bomb to burn the people                                                left their blood in burnt ash sites                                                public places, shops, and schools                                                           messaging by video their sacrifice? Uniformed of working clothes black gowned…

The Speeding Train by Shobana Gomes

A little girl of six She sits legs folded beneath her Watching for the speeding train, As it whizzes past her She is enthralled by its speed and time is lost to her within the seconds of its speed -SHOBANA GOMES Shobana Gomes lives in sunny Malaysia. She believes that poetry is a culmination of…

She Screamed for Help but you did Nothing by Don Matthews

(Kim Murphy, an Adelaide mother of three, was murdered by her ex-partner in a domestic violence incident. (April 2020) Her screams for help were ignored. A sad reflection of today’s society) You heard her scream for help But no-one ever came You heard her screams of anguish Her life’s now ended, slain Why did you…

Winter Blossoms by Jeff Flesch

I wake up and walk along the lonely trail made out of crushed fragments of love for sale dwindling in the night sky these eyes try to make sense out of the pain cascading like a river from the fingertips of the giver a silent witness and, an ever present gift the red sandstone mistress…

I Linger by Joni Caggiano

water wrinkles speaking calmly to me wildly I hunt amid ageless cypress trees flooded with water, their twisted knees devour traveling fresh air  becoming yawning stalactites at night, crimson embers fly skyward as fireflies graze between pines epochs old as men eat flesh from elk shadows like fog slide to meet the clouds hang forlorn…

Joy by Britta Benson

I wander where wi-fi is not and signal bars fade into endless horizons. When no one can reach me dark blossoms in my soul dare to start their unfurl. First tentatively, stretching, a wiggle of reconnaissance, then bursting into flames not even the rain can hide for there is no tomorrow. Today, I am my…

Hana no Niwa by Michael L. Utley

In the restless nights In the small flower garden Spider lilies weep Mournful beneath midnight moon Dreaming higanbana dreams They cry in silence Do they know for whom they grieve Do they remember It was you who planted them It was you who gave them life They are not alone In the soil of memories…

My First Kiss by Joni Caggiano

freckles rearranging erotic patterns on pale, poreless skin cotton candy, and elephant ears dripping in sugar and butter air shifts smell mixing with scented moments, holds onto life white eyelet dress clings to sun-soaked skin; its holes breathe virgin lips plump, yearn for a first kiss, weary of practicing guilty for praying for my first…