Poetry
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ode to pants pockets
by Sharisa Aidukaitis my thanks to the designerof these pants, specifically for thepockets that stretch past my wrists,expanding to accommodaterocks and pinecones and leavesamassed by small hands in the park;toy racecars at the dentist’s office;snack wrappers not thrown on the floor;waiting and used tissues;too-itchy admission wristbands;too-tight hair scrunchies;hastily folded crayon sketches;stickers that fell off unsuspecting… Continue reading
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Assateague Island
by Susan Sandstrom Ellis There were horses on the island and mosquitoes thick with rage. A thrumming rhythmic hymn, dissonant. Their bites quick, effective. The swelling and scratching immediate. As a girl I’d been caught once in a storm on the island. A mile of silver seagrass shimmered between the house and me. I stood… Continue reading
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Flashes
by Laura Grace Weldon In-between ever-worsening news I see flashesbright as the best tomorrow. Thousands standing in subzero cold singing outside a detention center. Neighbors, arms linked, protecting parents and childrenat school start and dismissal time. Faith leaders from everydenomination kneeling in silence at an airportwhere people are forcibly unwoven from their ties. Dr. Esposito… Continue reading
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Today
by Anne Graue there are thistles for breakfast there are rhododendron buds out the window there are black-capped chickadees announcing the morning, shrill and loud there are wheat pennies in a jar green, light fuchsia black & white dull copper there is so much to get done that will probably never get done futility reigns… Continue reading
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WagJaw #25
by Padma Thornlyre Are you a Buddha?I asked the fruit fly strolling up mythumb stroking my little glassof red wine. The Buddha,she answeredby flying away. Padma Thornlyre has published ten books of original poetry, including the four volumes of his “Anxiety Quartet” (Turkey Buzzard Press 2020-21) and one book of translations from the Ukrainian poet,… Continue reading
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After I Discover the Islets of Langerhans
by Annie Stenzel Coming to this charming name by chance,of course I wanted these small bodies of land to bean exotic, intriguing place I might visit one day, and nota tricky body part, essential in the managementof glucose. Which means my sundry diabetic friendshad Islets of Langerhans that ran amok somehowand their bodies needed rescue.… Continue reading
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Votive
by Carole Greenfield Candles in blue votive holders sputter, mutter as their lightshutters, flutters, flickers while demons snicker in shadows and corners as warnings come thicker and faster, tonight six of uscluster round the table, flustered, attempting to muster our courage, our wits in starts and fits, each of us realize it’s happened before,as students… Continue reading
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What Happens in the Morning
by Paul Ilechko This is what will happen in the morning in that brief interval when the ghosts are still visible as they scurry towards their hiding place in the darkest corners of the daytime house before the buckets of almost boiling water are spiked with bleach and soap before the hay is baled and… Continue reading
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Elegy for a Mole Crab
by Heather Truett I want to write about the molecrab, its smallwhite claws halfheartedly openingand closingin the air, the waythe waves refuseto take it and I askthe sky to senda bird to eat it,so at least its deathwill matter, and thisis me, putting myhuman ideas of lifeand matter, of meaning,into the ocean and askingher to… Continue reading
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Two Poems by Laura Denny
The Nature of SunlightI want to give in again the way I did when we were newly married.In My Life, was your wedding song.I was pregnant, and we were happy for three months. Then you got sick. I remember one afternoon I wheeled you to Ocean View Park to shave your head. I bought you… Continue reading
January House Literary Journal 