the road
creeps across the contours
a slow boa
tightening its grip
on the mountain

*

James Newton

cold crunching down
cleaner streets / warm at home
salt-lined shoes

*

Harry Giles

Summer's heat
tucked us in for the night
with hospital corners

*

Vicki Thornton

The last rose of summer — the one that had budded just at the end of the season, lingered in its safe green vestments for days into weeks, slowly erupted into perfect coral with petals that could cover my palm, and endured three frosts — now, at this moment verging on November, droops in a sigh and a willing expiration.

*

Ruth E. Feiertag

The moon at noon,
a pale face asleep
in the sky.

*

Richard Cody
RCodywrites

Snake and Bird

In the winter landscape
the snake with his skin of leaves and grass
hunts the water bird.

*

Catherine Arcolio
Leaf and Twig

Deep orange petals
emerge from fresh rose blossoms,
explosion of scents.

*

Claudia Messelodi

moon
on the waves
night undulates

*

Máire Morrissey-Cummins

Sea foam bubbles wash ashore
on the slippery, white, rectangle of soap.

*

Teri Hoover
A small stone Gathering

Stillness, as the machine shuts down, reveals; the ticking clock, the uneasy sound of the central heating and the whir of the drier downstairs.

*

Freya Pickard
Dragonscale Clippings

the warmth
of my own hands. . .
winter moon

*

Al Fogel

yellow clouds
of pollen
on the parquet floor
from the bouquet of sunflowers
around which we sit
trying to solve our problems

*

Eric G. Muller

ode to my refrigerator

skadi is sitting
naked
in my kitchen-

half a whisper and
half a kiss

*

William Wright Harris

Bees,
Frantic on the purple asters,
Know snow is coming.

*

Ruth E. Feiertag

The time apart is not quiet, as I'd expected. Life moves on, more audible than before, though I was sure your absence would deafen me.

*

Elizabeth Maddox

I found a lion’s mane in our old shed
made of string and raffia
when we were young we used to chase antelope
I have scars on my knees

*

Kaspalita
another small stone

Coloured lights dance on the wire
waiting for dusk.
Brown vinyl couches, faded and worn,
stare out to sea
like an old married couple.

*

Shanee Barraclough
Throw me to the sky

Old woman, tired of trying to see above the wheel
snaps dentures hard on a licorice rope
and pedals the metal

*

Keith Kennedy
Ask Keith Anything

Mathias Svensson smiles over his chinrest, then grins, breaking out into a hot jazz solo in the midst of "Swing 42"

*

Kaspalita
another small stone

spring water
in a crystal wine glass
shadowandbrightness
move across the beech table
slow as sunlight

*

James Newton

two days' swansong sun /
quiet litter-strewn sands now
folded up in harr

*

Harry Giles

Rocket, parsley, sage
bed of leaves on a glass pond
where mauve lilies float.

*

Claudia Messelodi

Joining my dog outside on the warm wooden deck.
Her black body along side mine,
our bodies, a compass needle, point perfectly south.

*

Teri Hoover
A small stone Gathering

White cockatoos stark
against storm glazed skies
summer in Melbourne

*

Vicki Thornton

In my morning rush a cream moon descends in a lavender sky.

*

Christina Deanne
My Scattered Stones

Lovingly created; jam roly-poly pudding, crisped and sizzling in the oven.

*

Freya Pickard
Dragonscale Clippings

drinking sangria

thinking of lorca

and the
red
covering the ground

*

William Wright Harris

Bundled on the sidewalk
Old men making small talk
Cluster of fossilized time

*

Alex Damov

first fishscale moon
glimpse of a mocking bird
going to roost

*

Gillena Fox
Lunch Break

preparations

Watching leaves quiver
With caffeine in hand
My heart palpitates

*

Carla M Wilson
The Leaves

awake

the forest clots
the pond curls

Frog binoculars
the brambled broth


                     above

*

Dan Mussett