Early

In this sudden light
cars pass like a tide goes out
a slow measured hush.

*

Kayo Chingonyi
The Train Set Lifestyle

I’m training to be an anaesthetist
the checkout girl said
I want to work with people
but not have to talk to them

*

Matthew Haigh
blue horse poetry

he insisted I have hot sauce on my gyro
and though he had a dusky face his eyes were ablaze
his smile cunning so I did not trust him
but I hoped he thought I was pretty

*

Natalie Korman

A stray cat scampers by; I
mentally search my desk
for an offering

*

Marsha Robinson

playground
after the rain—
the sound of traffic

*

martin gottlieb cohen

Heartbreak at Chattahoochee

Imagine the heart, a cold stone
exposed by receding river water.
This is the first sign of drought.

*

Torie Michelle Anderson

the groundhog hopes the compost pile remains uncovered // he likes mangoes

*

Angie Werren
woman, ask the question

The wind chimes are mad for it:

*

Kat Dixon
Planets, Heavy Bodies

Cadence

bird on the high branch
sings into deepening gloom
just before the rain

*

Tamra Hayes
Laughing Dove Poetry

Thick green tangly woods
soak up the hammering summer rain.
Glyndwr's flag in a break of sunshine.

*

Geoff Sawers
Pioden

tall
london
fog

*

Ian Houston
Asleep On My Feet

the winds come
in herds

*

Sarah Quigley

full moon
the cat swallows
a mouse whole

*

Matt Morden
Morden Haiku

A field of poppies.
Blue-green irridesence
puncuated with vermillion.

*

Beth Williamson

movements of young girls
rolling up their long hair
under the bathing caps

*

Kirsten Nørgaard
stensamler

Wild turkeys roost on my porch rail
around the time in November
when nowhere else is safe.

*

George Moore
George Moore

THRIFTY

squirrel
my love
away
my days
rainy

*

Tim Nees
Tim Nees

crimson maple
    on a wet sidewalk
redhead after a splitup

*

Janann Dawkins
Third Wednesday

Night time. The house observes the changes within, remembers all who have
sheltered here before. It smiles to be so loved.

*

Jackie Morris
We Three, Ginger Cat Tales

Slow bus home
ring-tone tinnitus

*

Annie Kerr
Ink haven

In eight years, he has never clipped
his Samoyed's fur; when they step out,
he pretends he is walking a cloud.

*

Joseph Harker
naming constellations

The lampost.
A bright spot in the life of a dog.

*

Luigi Pagano

My heart is this: not just that the kingfisher sounds like a telephone, but that metaphors can really happen. And oh, thank goodness, the kingfisher also sounds like a kingfisher.

*

Sarah Selecky
Sarah Selecky

Insect in golden sunlight
            late afternoon
body painter corksrews
            in love with itself beneath the connifer.

*

Kay Fletcher
Inextinguishable Spark

Patio

The dark from the house
tip-toes behind me as I
stretch out in the sun.

*

Jenny Adamthwaite
From the Living Room

Steep rocky hillside;
a glimpse of silver water
through the fruit trees

*

Jac Cattaneo

Waiting to go to church, a mob of sparrows hog the bird table.

*

Jon Summers
hums

November

Pumpkins slowly implode
on doorsteps, and in the pavement grille
leaf-mould flowers.

All Soul's Day
a black kitten finds
the cobwebs I missed

*

Matt Morden
Morden Haiku

The Thames at Battersea sucked back
from its muddy grey gums, revealing
splintered canines of rotting timber;
crumbling stone molars; chewed up refuse.

*

Matthew Friday
Matthew Friday