Poetry
-
On a tattoo I meant to get
by Brandy McKenzie In the middle of my writer’s block, I send my sister pictures of tattoos, flash, to be specific, giving her the sense of something bright and maybe new, but what I mean is old, from times when gentle ladies didn’t get tattoos, except those few women whose images we still share as… Continue reading
-
Time Lost
by Chris Wood If only a detective could findthe time I lost. All those daysspent brooding over what I didn’t haveinstead of what I did. All those times I had to stop,step out, and sit in each seatto roll down the windows of my first car, a clunkerthat needed fifty miles an hourbefore offering air… Continue reading
-
Perennial Blooming
by Kathi Crawford It thrills me to take in Goldie’s bloomseach morning. Her flowersthe color of champagne—she shinesfrom the sun’s rays passing throughmy office window. Goldie was bornin the desert, so, she is packedwith cactus soil. I admireher ability to survive in dryness.In contrast, my body has not takento this age of fluiddraining from my… Continue reading
-
Two Poems by Al Ortolani
Grade School DesksIn grade school we were the first classto be given new desks. Real desks, not the kindwith the lift up top, but ones with compartmentson the left side. One small one on top for ourcigar box of pencils and pens, our ink and leaderasers. The lower compartment heldour books and Red Chief tablets,… Continue reading
-
Two Poems by Patrick G. Roland
At My Daughter’s Basketball PracticeTen children chase the same red, white, and blue ball.Ten small bodies collapsing toward itwith identical enthusiasmand identical failure.Eyes follow it.Fingers reach.The ball disappears beneatha small economy of grabbing hands.One boy stands outside the swarm—the one kid not yet convinced a ball is worth it.“Be more aggressive!”a woman shouts from the… Continue reading
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
January House Literary Journal 