Archive for Literary

1. NAKED MEMORY • by Jenny Schwartz 14 Comments

   Time has worn naked the memory of him,
   taken his lies into its keeping
   and left exposed the insecurities
   that I had not the life to see, not then.
   He walked without belief in gravity,
   upsidedown with his hands open, feet bare.
   Don’t know when youth died, when I saw the man
   I could have loved, had I the courage.
   He crumbled into [...]

   Literary
   
   

2. MARKET, CLOSING TIME • by Darcy McMurtery 10 Comments

   Those Early Girls, piled upon tables,
   pert pyramids of cheerleaders
   vied for my  attention, shining in
   the too- bright glare of compact fluorescents.
    
   My fingers trailed over their
   ripe roundness and I squeezed a few
   toward points of pain,
   plucking the best for my basket
   before last call, closing time,
   and ambled up to the cashier,
   who eyed the remaining customers
   with practiced [...]

   Literary
   
   

3. TONIGHT • by Divya Rajan 9 Comments

   tonight, i am a wind bird
   with a slender- winged appetite, talons
   aching to cascade, twirl, unwind

   into shallow waters
   seamless patterns of voiceless wonders
   echoing within a seashell

   on spring mornings, i rise
   settle on dew-white pearls, unabashedly
   translucent, about to descend

   onto a torrent of galloping gushes, dissolve
   into green, inexplicably erect maple leaf- marrows
   and moist tomato seeds

   a piercing call wakes up
   early nameless [...]

   Literary
   
   

4. MONDAY MORNING BEFORE THE GARBAGE TRUCK COMES • by Linda Simoni-Wastila 31 Comments

   and the mockingbird sings, I lie in the too-warm room,
   his breath a steady, irritating reminder
   of nirvanic slumber that eludes me.
    
   Instead, my head waltzes, thoughts barrage my brain
   like so much clutter the whirring truck
   will soon pick up – the library books,
    
   no bread for lunches, the client meeting
   and calls for freezing rain to snarl the overlong [...]

   Literary
   
   

5. THE PHOTOGRAPH • by Richard M. O'Donnell 9 Comments

   Before:
   She lay bare
   across the canopy bed
   waiting for fingers
   so familiar
   she trembles
   before his touch.
   Outside:
   Grandkids chatter
   jump rope clicks
   baseball smacks leather
   “She touched me!”
   “Did not!”
   Inside:
   He fills her
   with whispers
   of promises
   kept.
   After:
   She poses for
   the snapshot
   hidden between pages
   until mourners
   discover Grandma,
   for the first time,
   human.

   Richard M. O’Donnell ’s works have appeared in Everyday Poets, Everyday Fiction, Sniplits, North Coast Review, Bear Grrr, Binaryorganic, [...]

   Literary
   
   

6. LOST & FOUND • by Stacy Post 28 Comments

    
   I wrote a poem on a plane ticket
   as I flew home from your wedding.

   It was a brilliant piece; it sang
   of your accomplishments

   and even kissed the bride near the end.
   Funny, now I can’t find it

   among the lone stocking, and the old
   hand mirror your sister left on my pillow.

   I think she wanted me to take a good [...]

   Literary
   
   

7. MORNING COFFEE • by Amy Corbin 16 Comments

   Morning peers back at us
   drowsy through the kitchen window
   sun not quite up
   scrambles for its seat
   a game of musical chairs
   but the moon never wins
   Catch the laughter
   in our coffee mugs
   sip warm thoughts
   sweetened with desire
   two hearts beat in rhythm
   to the sounds of stirring spoons

   Amy Corbin has been published in filling Station, The Cynic, Ascent Aspirations, Shine, Every [...]

   Literary
   
   

8. PAGAN FEAST • by Alex Franco 8 Comments

   I made the gods into bone
   dolls, with hollow eyes
   and they danced around fire
   with witches made of straw inside
   we gave them prostrated meat
   until there was nothing
   laughter
   in a winter, now here, I heard
   prayers which sounded like crying
   and mistook complacence for
   salvation, visiting me like a cramp
   just let go of thought and drown
   or float
   there is no [...]

   Literary
   
   

9. THE EMANCIPATION OF SYLVIA PLATH • by David Siegel Bernstein 14 Comments

    
   Caged, locked by fear,
   leaves me isolated, insulated,
   insincere.

   Regret slices my soul
   into chunks of sorrow,
   knowing I’m my own warden.

   A plea to Goddess Kali
   for blackness; coldness;
   release.

   Blissfully,
   sans teardrops of rage,
   effects cascade, decisions fade.

   In my last, I’m cast free.
   I’ve won; I’ve lost.
   I’ve made my escape.
   David Siegel Bernstein lives within the shadow of Philadelphia in Elkins Park, PA.  To support his writing [...]

   Literary
   
   

10. JUST A KISS • by Amy Corbin 17 Comments

    A primal urge
    like a newborn’s
    need to suckle
    or a dried out plant’s
    thirst for water
    craving a simple thing
    leaves me inconsolable
    I’ve lost my clothes
    and cannot find them
    this desire for your kiss
    makes the moon
    more beautiful
    but the stars
    feel farther away

    Amy Corbin has been published in filling Station, The Cynic, Ascent Aspirations, Shine, Every Day Poets, Every Day Fiction, Haruah: A Breath of [...]

    Literary
    
    

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