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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