We twirled our seven waistsand twisted our wrists,reaching one arm to the sky.Our mesmerized eyesgazed at coral mists,swirling through the clouds,keeping time with our dance. Skirts kissed the ground,then fluttered and floated —playing… Continue reading
Avocadoes Hose Clamps ***Jay Lynn Kelly, a Texan born and raised, recently returned from living overseas; three years in Bangkok followed by two years in Istanbul. Between high school and the expat period,… Continue reading
I get up to greet the morning glow On this side of the planet when it’s high Time for you to go to bed on the other Or, you rise to embrace the… Continue reading
What the hell am I doing in this goddamn country? thought Dick Honda, a Sansei Japanese American. Japan is a defeated country. It has nothing. It’s a war-torn devastated land. The major cities… Continue reading
Setting: On stage right, there is a desk or table/chair combo. On stage left, there is a couch or bean bag (something a teenager would lounge on) Time: Present Scene opens with an… Continue reading
His voice scratches the twilight;the strings of his lyre taut and shrill.He plays death on the strings of night,wooing the lovely one who followedin the wake of his winsome song:the lacuna love he… Continue reading
There’s a wall of NYPD officers in full riot gear staring down at us as we kneel on the sizzling concrete. Their stance is aggressive and they’re gently swinging their batons in a… Continue reading
They saw a dog. They wanted its knees to bend the same way as theirs so they broke that dog’s legs. ***Roy Duffield is the art editor over at Anti-Heroin Chic, a winner… Continue reading
Bombs turn a building to rubble,rescuers findan arm, a leg. In a mall a maniac fires a rifle,leaving in his wakedead children. Hate manifestosall over the Internet,in the world there is danger: a… Continue reading
On the second day of the new year, I was driving the back road from Millerton to our country home in Boston Corners. The sky was cloudy and overcast, and a dull whitish… Continue reading
Leaves, a few stragglers inDecember, just before Christmas,some nailed down crabbyto ground frost,some crackled by the biteof nasty wind tones.Some saved from the matchstickthat failed to light.Some saved from the rakeby a forgetful… Continue reading
their words in my mouthgnaw at my tonguetill I cry out in painand spilltheir words in my mouthpry at my lipstill I vomit your pleasureand filltheir words in my mouthpoison my breathtill I… Continue reading
Since the 17th century liberalism has been the source of political progress in the Western World. The ideas that rights set a limit on the legitimate power of government is a liberal idea.… Continue reading
(From 1960-1965, my family attended two churches) Pastor Jones whispered Sunday homily that day.We came straight home. Mom went to bed.Dad sat in his chair,said nothing,stared ahead,then held out his hand to me.Another… Continue reading
by C. Kubasta Chase Dimock’s Sentinel Species (Stubborn Mule Press, 2020), a poetry collection subtitled a “bestiary” is richly animalled with dogs and birds and apes – all the creatures of the world… Continue reading
I was a nice person once, a ‘normal’ person. Now here I am, handcuffed to my therapist’s chaise longue, pondering my catastrophic fall from some repressed Mary Sue to whatever I am now,… Continue reading
(Excerpts taken from Sunday Times article on Anthony Joshua’s Black Lives Matter Protest speech – June 7 2020) Impassioned pleafallout of the death unarmedsilent on the senselessblack ownedpostcode war burning down shopsto be… Continue reading
at the cornerof hate and hypocrisya predator swallows usand unleashesgenerations of anger only a dynamic people,brave politicians,and policies thatreach through racism can seize the nation’s heart, can challenge frustration,oppression,voter suppression and chase freedom… Continue reading
(an audio version of this poem can be accessed through the Loud Voices Silent Streets youtube channel in their “illusion” series) The barriers aren’t there They’re walls of thin airBuilt by ourselves to… Continue reading