i thought i’d take the train and get off at ashby, but you told me to ride one more stop downtown berkeley boy your copper and platinum hair ignite a small fire in my belly you make me swallow sand, or maybe it’s just the kava we’re drinking i laugh to myself …
Water Colors by Gloria Keeley
Water Colors slowly up the canal Chinese paper boats water-write characters hummingbees buzz secure in the company of spiders feather fathers move beyond Maine rocks and quietly watch water slap against the stones of a weathered inn shells line the sill alongside candle-dripped bottles door slams like ship boom lowered …
Sapphire by Dominique Witman
The shop that Ren Law minded was cramped, with no windows to stream sun through, and a secret hatch door in the ceiling being the only means of entrance or exit. However, what the modest room lacked in size, it made up for in content. Reams of silk with delicate golden brocades, inlaid with dusty …
Sorry (Not Sorry), Wrong Number by Vincent Calvarese
I laid there on the carpet. Alone. Radiating out from me were spent orange capped needles, 20oz. Coca Cola bottles half filled with unknown liquid and cigarette butts, weeks old dog shit enmeshed in the 15-year-old Berber carpet and numerous pizza boxes. My husband had gone out to cop more of what I had …
Continue reading Sorry (Not Sorry), Wrong Number by Vincent Calvarese
Pinkie (Excerpt) by Edisol Wayne Dotson
Pinkie (Excerpt) over BLACK: Airplane wheels screech on landing. Fade in: Ext. san francisco international airport - DAY Pinkie appears in the doorway of a private jet, goes down the stairs. Manny follows. Manny crosses to one of two parked black hybrid SUVs, takes a set of keys from a MAN. The Man drives …
Ghost Dance by Matt Luedke
Ani stared out the window and past bouncing elm branches at the night sky, shifting her head quietly so she wouldn’t disturb the noisy floorboards and wake Laila beside her. She could see more of the stars than she was used to, outside the city in this drafty storage shed. She idly wished she knew …
Francoise by Doug Johnson
Francoise Let her in slowly, Light a series of Candles to help her See, keep one inside The door, one just Outside, white wax, Flame of yellow- Beacons aglow Spread a few more Across the room in Two circles touching Each other lightly- The way she used To kiss you at night Before she …
Pieces by Donna Scarlett
My earliest memory of you May 1, 1976 We plant potatoes in the back garden Any larger than an egg, you proclaim— those are the ones to go. I cringe as you carve them into neat squarish patterns and cry as you amputate their unified whole. Each potato piece should have at least two …
Tenderloin by Lara Lingenbrink
Tenderloin They say- Do not walk in the fillet of this city, atrocity, possibly. I say- Do not cut the cow if you can't stomach blood in floods. Your luck has kept your …
Dis-Illusionment by Snow I write new poems and my heart leaps up in joy I read these poems to a silent audience They do not understand Murmur kind encouragement My heart falls, I had meant to be genius Recognized in the first hour. “Dis-Illusionment,” by Snow originally published in Undertow ([Forum] 1978, City College of San …
