The Word

Have you not heard the Word,
Sighing in the breeze,
Descending with the rain,
Singing in the trees?
All that is heard came by the Word.

Bruce Mundhenke


Water of Gladness

May the love of the Lord,
And the beauty of His creation,
Become a river and a stream,
That they may flow through your heart,
And fill it overfull
With the water of gladness.

Bruce Mundhenke

SCOPE     [Stefanie Bennett]

 

 

What counts? Well...

Fingers do when

There’s no obstruction,

Colour, sense and

Nonsense;

 

Empathy nudged

By Quarks galore

And twin-set

Mittens

Made

       Openly

In Babylon.

In Balashikha.

 

 

 

LIBATION      [Stefanie Bennett]

 

 

I’m to blame-.

I was born

A nondescript

Rhythmist

Repeatedly drumming

A tin plate

With a wooden spoon.

It can’t get

                Any better

That that. It’s

 

What you do with

What you’ve got.

 

---

Crime/Detective Haiku

jellyfish police
surround scene
wait for backup

robot assassin
mistakes you for someone else
alternative twin

kill boyfriend in bed
in shock when he walks through door
with twin brother news

thought it was your blood
as you wake from hotel bed
maid forgot the corpse

see ax swing coming
die of sudden heart attack
before rubber hits


Football Tanka

alien giants
land in NFL Cities
adapt quite quickly
use pro football stadiums
for breakfast cereal bowl

alien giants
land craft in New York City
at Sunday home game
use teams football stadium
at halftime break as snack bowl

group of poets
fill out job applications
in major cities
at pro football stadiums
preference for the ravens

Denny E. Marshall

I Dreamed

of a world that I thought

we had created.  This was

many nights ago.  Peace

and serenity.

Last night, I dreamed about

the world we might be creating.

Furtive glances, interrogation

rooms, hiding and tucking away.

I woke with a sense of being

undefeated even after finding

that civility has not completely

conquered our flaws.

Throwing Shade

I take a bit of shade,

a modicum of shadow, and place

it in my bag.  Call me some

version of Aeolus.  

In the afternoon, heat came

and I rustled in my bag for

the bit of coolness, finding

it had evaporated.

Guess I forgot to feed

and water it.

By the Accident of Being on Purpose

They finally got it right

with that one, folks said.

Do you also get the image

of porch swings and lemonade,

old people with large eyeglasses,

when you hear the word folks?

They rumored and they gossiped

him into great success.  You would

have thought he wore sandals

and carried a sword and scroll.

Now, every time he comes home,

he feels like he has to put the

legend on, and boy is it itchy.

Performer

I decided one day

the trapeze was no longer for me.

Maybe it's getting older

that did it.

I decided the lighted circle,

center-stage, was to be abandoned.

It's okay.  I usually flubbed

my lines anyway.

 

I Dreamed

of a world that I thought

we had created.  This was

many nights ago.  Peace

and serenity.

Last night, I dreamed about

the world we might be creating.

Furtive glances, interrogation

rooms, hiding and tucking away.

I woke with a sense of being

undefeated even after finding

that civility has not completely

conquered our flaws.

Throwing Shade

I take a bit of shade,

a modicum of shadow, and place

it in my bag.  Call me some

version of Aeolus.  

In the afternoon, heat came

and I rustled in my bag for

the bit of coolness, finding

it had evaporated.

Guess I forgot to feed

and water it.

By the Accident of Being on Purpose

They finally got it right

with that one, folks said.

Do you also get the image

of porch swings and lemonade,

old people with large eyeglasses,

when you hear the word folks?

They rumored and they gossiped

him into great success.  You would

have thought he wore sandals

and carried a sword and scroll.

Now, every time he comes home,

he feels like he has to put the

legend on, and boy is it itchy.

Performer

I decided one day

the trapeze was no longer for me.

Maybe it's getting older

that did it.

I decided the lighted circle,

center-stage, was to be abandoned.

It's okay.  I usually flubbed

my lines anyway.

 

JD Dehart

---

 

 

---

the one

i can still picture

you in just a towel

talking to me as

i sat on the edge

of the bed

you just casually

let that towel fall

to the floor

if i was a smart man

i would have asked

you to marry me

right there

all these years later

i know you wouldn't

have said yes

you didn't believe

in settling until you

found the one

sadly, i have never

been anyone's

one

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

cries for help in early august

i've been

battling

my demons

since the day

i was born

not all wars

are meant to

last forever

--------------------------------------------------------------

taste the ecstasy

the puerto

rican women

are starting

to invade

my dreams

i can still

taste the

ecstasy when

i wake up in

the morning

i suppose i

should buy

another bottle

of rum

hoping that

she invites

a friend in

need

-------------------------------------------------------------------

locked and loaded

a tribe of deviants

not interested in

ruling the world

more to just enjoy

a little fruit while

escaping death

each day

locked and loaded

not sure if the

eclipse would

actually be

a mushroom

cloud

place the tab on the

tip of your tongue

and simply relax

try not to think about

being molested as a

child or the first love

of your life running

away with another

woman

try to remember 

the time you got 

a blow job in an

alley from a stripper

with a heart of gold

or the dreams of

being the smart

criminal that got

you through high

school

----------------------------------------------------------------

up a creek without a damn paddle

i see your

eyes in my

dreams

quietly

haunting

me as i

try to make

it back to

you

against

all odds

up a creek

without a

damn paddle

i'll make

it back to

you one

day

all i ask

please

pretend

you still

care at

first

wait to

break

my heart

after i've

had a chance

to rest

-----------------------------------------------------------------

cliffs of dover

here comes the

guitar hero and

all the groupies

that believe in

nostalgia

i remember i

was going to

be one of those

guys when i

was a teenager

reality struck

because fat kids

don't get to have

those fantasies

you can be a 

roadie or the

producer stuck

in the fucking

studio

but any shit on

stage is for the

beautiful people

i was going to

be the smart ass

that brought up

the 1970's but i

simply walked

away

not all the talent

was squeezed out 

of the tube yet

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

J.J. Campbell