Confession

I burned my
soul on a hot
iron

Not sure I
will ever get it
back

I took too
much, gained
too little

Walked heavily
on the edge
of night

Mangled my
chances
for what?


Angelica Fuse,
Los Angeles

Do They Know

I'm going to ignore
the jokes about my weight
I am a blank sketch
with larges spots missing
even to the ones I love.
Even to so-called
family members.
They deny me like Judas.
Does it matter who knows
me and what I rhyme with,
do these words even 
make sense?
I'm going to ignore empty
looks, furtive scanning,
ignorant leaps. 
Reciting my life over again,
what else can I do but
move forward along the twist
of lemon metaphor,
take another step
above the drink on the rocks?



Kaitlyn Park
Salem, Oregon,
US 

Dead Man's Dirge

I am a dead man's
heart coming to a sputter
old rusty engine 

I am the late summer
turning locust back crisp
ready to fall from a tree

I am time running out
on a scratched tuneless
record about to skip.



J. Ash Gamble
Ft Myers, 
Florida, US 

Gravel

Pound the road
blooming with roses
to where you are from

Remember when
this road seemed long
but now it's shorter
so much sweeter

Memory of mother
knitting or shelling beans
is at odds with recent
flashes of cell phone plans

Mass construction where
you live now
has toppled the afternoon
quiet and morning lull
you grew up drinking coffee in

The gravel leads to pavements
and pavements lead to cities
where people don't know
how quiet lives anymore.


Camille Clark
Atlanta, Georgia,
US

dd

The First Hint of Summer

The first hint of summer
came when I looked into
your eyes.
I saw the sorrow
among briars and
smiles among lilies.
Frozen were your feelings
but, with the sun's rays
shining, I saw the
thaw begin.

Mary Bone
Wilson, Oklahoma,

mdbone@cebridge.net 

Translate

One side of the page
travels to the other
joining words to worlds 
pages of syllables

The characters of one
language mingle with another
children playing in the yard 

Cultures meet at the table
dancing for understanding.



JD DeHart
Tennessee,
US