A Poem by Alan Catlin

Light through

a cracked window

All the things
we once loved

lie broken
on the floor;

only the bed
still standing

Alan Catlin's latest full length book is "Alien Nation" a collection of four thematically related chapbooks of poetry.

A Poem by Ken L. Jones

Picture Painted Upon An Exploding Canvass That Had Ripped Its Chest Open

I do not expect to be happy on this earth ever again
I have a slow blue Miles Davis trumpet solo
That echoes in my very blood
I have broken every heart that I ever cared if they beat
And now I am all aches and pains and overcome with grief
Consumed at every turn by a world that will not leave me alone
No place to turn no help to phone
And wanting only a death that never seems to come
But is more and more desired with the rising of every newborn sun.



Ken L. Jones has written everything from Donald Duck comic books to dialogue for the Freddy Krueger movies for the past thirty years.  In the last three years he has gained great notice for his vast publication of horror poetry which has appeared in many anthology books, blogs, magazines and websites and especially in his first solo book of poetry Bad Harvest and Other Poems.  He is also publishing recently in the many fine anthology poetry books that Kind of a Hurricane Press is putting out.

A Poem by Les Merton

By the Bye

By chance,
they met
at the bus stop.
The weather,
was the topic
as they waited,
in the rain,
for the bus
that never came.

By choice,
they agreed
to share a taxi.
Their homes
were in the same area.
During the journey
they became better acquainted.

By coincidence,
they met again
later that same night.
As they queued
for a pizza take away.

By mutual consent,
they went Dutch
on a bottle of wine.
Choosing the nearest
of their flats,
to dine together.

By the time
they had wined, dined
and enjoyed a smoke,
they realized how
attracted to each other
they were.

By the morning,
they knew it was
an unforgettable experience.

"Bye for now,"
they said in unison.
Knowing
they would never
see each other again.



Author, poet, editor Les Merton likes to enjoy the time retirement brings by writing.  In 2013, he did a three book deal with Bradwell Books of Sheffield, two of these books, Cornish Dialect and Cornish Ghosts, have been published and can be purchased from http://www.bradwellbooks.co.uk/

A Poem by Joanna M. Weston

On Bad Days

we stretch
barbed wire
through the house
entangle ourselves
in recoil

bleed into
one another
staunch jagged
wounds before
cut         clash
again knifes

Joanna M. Weston.  Married; has two cats, multiple spiders, a heard of deer, and two derelict hen-houses. Her middle-reader, Those Blue Shoes, published by Clarity House Press; and poetry, A Summer Father, published by Frontenac House of Calgary.  Her eBooks found at her blog: http://www.1960willowtree.wordpress.com?

A Poem by James Diaz

There is a Certain Gap in What has Been Lost

Our love is like a coffee-table,

Because first 

you will not know why

remember that there is comfort 

in your shins

that your labor is low

and distinct objects

have bruised this way before.

 

Trace with your voice

cluttered 

how it searches

knowing no one's name

in this room

where better days have gone to die,

I send you a poem of function

as nothing in our world does anymore.

 

Tripped by wire-

the unrecognized marriage

of materials

a less well lit place

this designation

bad party night- vomit on floor

or just the truth of the moment

either way

there is no jump start

for such a loss.

 

 

 

James Diaz lives in New York. His poems have been published in Ditch, Collective Exile, Orion Headless, The Kitchen Poet and most recently in Red Fez.

 

 

 

A Poem by Donal Mahoney

If We Ever Break Up

Thunder and lightning at first,

as I understand it, 

and then the moon will split

in half and disappear

and the stars will go dark

and the sun will come up

and explode in the sky,

another Hiroshima. 

Hurricanes and tornadoes 

will savage the land.

Sickles and scythes  

will harvest the people,

throw some in the air

shouting Alleluia, 

toss others aside 

 

shrieking and cursing.

Silence will boom

as the credits roll.

Bugs Bunny, the sage, 

will have the last word:

"That's all, folks!"

 

 

 

Donal Mahoney has had poetry and fiction published in various  publications in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of his earliest work can be found at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com/