Joel Chace - Home: The Plague Year

In the loved place.  _______________________________________________…during which one 

                                                                                                                                           realizes that people 

                                                                                                                                          with money are the favored 

                                                                                                                                          in life’s competitions.

Keeping wanting.  Sibling  _____________________________________________ …a goad that practices 

                                                                                                                                                   on you and you 

                                                                                                                                                   can’t get rid of… 

                                               in 

the loved place.  Keeping to 

leave.  Sibling  ___________________________________________________…what a strange creature…

 

                           says, 

“Stay in darkness.  ___________________________________________________…has always got there 

                                                                                                                                                   first, and is waiting.

 

Eat.”  Sibling’s invitation.  

In place  _______________________________________...elementary

                                                                                                       realities reveal that

                                                                                                       are not confined…that they

                                                                                                        partake less than the nature

                                                                                                        of being than that of

                                                                                                        language and can compel

                                                                                                        whatever is beside them

                                                                                                        to speak…of an

                                                                                                        unforeseeable future.  

  

                  “Stay.  Consume.  Eat 

darkness.  ____________________________________________________________This is the story…in 

                                                                                                                                                        a cave.…head 

                                                                                                                                                       encased in concrete.

  

                     All of it.”

Heath Brougher - Three poems

 1. Pain(ed)ful M(endacious)emories   

         (a response to the murders of George Floyd and Jacob Blake)

 

L(unatic)aw enforcement slices up African ribs for lunch  ,,

      s(ickly)lave o(minous)wners reduce the lives of the o(h no!)wned—  

the lives protesting peacefully to s(lither)mithereens  ,,

 

the invisible power of destructio(fficer I can’t breathe!!)n is destroying lives

like the psychotic machine it is!! 

 

gor(e)geous   &   ab(lunt object to the head)undant  

as a cop, I mean, a cup fulla copper::.

***

2. Emo(ticon)otive  

Toe(WARD)s S(WOLLEN)uch TOADS  ,,

.                  ,               *             ;              🡪

or bu(ilt)ullshit 

trip(ping)t lift(ilting)ed off the ground  ..

FlicKKKKKKKKKKK🡪E🡪RRRRRRRRRRRRR

how many cans    ?    how many magnets       ?

[I might climb 

               the grass       🡪

  children climb through thr(alls)ongs of glass];;.

***

3. Non

I like

to come

as close

to nonexistence 

as possible

and

tap

it

right

on

the

shoulder.

Mark Young - Two Found Poems

Sacramento Daily Union, 6 January 1887

VEUfiTABLES —Potatoes—Early Rose, 90c; Nevada Snow Flake, tl 65; Nevada General | Grant, $140; River Red, B0@8Bc; Onions, I $1 65@1 J6j Cabbage, 75c(i'51; Carrots, sjc; 11mups,75c sack; bunch vegetables, \Z%c « fioi; Parsnips, 81 2D;Beets, tl;Eor<ie Radish, tiia.7cV *; Garlic. l@sc; Artichokes, 40c SR dozen; Okra, sc. BBEA_L>STITFFS—FIonr. ti 70 « bbl; Oatmeal. (3 75 9 100 s>s: Cemmeal. white and yellow, <1 8"> In 25 it, Backs, f 2 in 10 S) sacks: Cracied Wheat. 91 75: Hominy.s3so ft cwt. POULTRY—Lite 'I'uricys, hens, Wi@l4o ; gobblers, J2J<tISJjQ; Dressed, i.3c; full-grown I Chickens, <<o %i" dozen: vonng Roosters, H a) V dozeD ; Broilers, J2 5033 50; tame Ducks, ttcati SO; I'ekiu. &"> 50: Teal. 7fc; Quails, $1; Hare, SI 50; Mallard', S3; Widgeon, 90c; Sprig, SI 50; Canvasback, ?::; Geese, tmi 25 p oalr; KgCT, choice CaUforrila. 25QSSO; Eastern, 19520 C i "* dosen. DAIRY PRODTJCrS-Bntter. fancy roll, 27'<;@ 30c {I a: ranch bntter, '2:>a2sc; pickled, 2u<s 21c; packed in firkins, choice, 19a>IOc; common, 12@15c: Cheese, California, 3S3>lsb: WestBra flats. 13@Uc; Martin's Cream. He. HAY, GRAIN AND FEED-Oat hay. *Bg9 V MU Alfalfa do. (>.iV) ?i ton; Bran, 810 $ ton: Middlings, 121 « ton; Barley, whole, paying 81 12; rolled, $1 80: Wheat, paying tl SO 9 cwt; W Thite Wild Oats, SI 75(3.1 85; Tamo Oats. $1 G-V Corn, paying Jl 05 » owl. MISCELLANEOUS-Seeds - Alfalfa, 9>£@loe ; liniothy, Eastern, t%%li B> i Pod Corn. © 3>i.©-la V !b; Eta Clo»er, 10@lle: Red Top, B®9c. Nuts —Chile Walnuts, new 11J 11a; California Walnuts, 13®i60; Almonds, new 143 5:; Peauute, Caliiornia, 4K@5Ha Lara (Oaliforaia). cans, 7Hrsß>£c; Eastern, S%® 93<c. Hldps, sail, light »nd medium, 8c; heavy steers, S^c; dry, 16c. Tallow, 3c. Bopfc— Sales of r'aoific coast. In New York, 25@27e; morkpt v»iu» here. 25&27 C. MEATS-Beef, s(rJs^c; Mntton, s®s>sc $ 1b; Lamo, 7c; Veal, 7<g)9c; Hogs, 2Ji©3o; lireßsed Fork, 5o; Hams, Easteru. 16c: Califbmia, 12e: Bacon, medium, 9><o; selected, lie: extra light, 12c. _

jim leftwich & john crouse april poems

Will not be televised

Jim Leftwich
Sun, Apr 19, 1:22 PM
to john, JOHN
up Bent Mountain to
Zabriskie Point and
down the Kite River on
a bicycle built for ten
just like
any other day


John Crouse
Sun, Apr 19, 2:01 PM
to me, JOHN
Puppy went Montana Shrew
Pink Floyd Sistine Nurse Chapel Handlebars
Ben Franklin and Katherine Ross
Sun-Dappled Kid goes Butch
Big Wheel to Bultaco
Passion Play


Jim Leftwich
Sun, Apr 19, 2:08 PM
to John, JOHN

shredded wheat
heat and eat


John Crouse
Sun, Apr 19, 2:18 PM
to me, JOHN

Breaded teat
meat and gleet


Jim Leftwich
Sun, Apr 19, 2:27 PM
to John, JOHN

the peeking leek
inherits the meek

the week
shall inhabit
the month


John Crouse
Sun, Apr 19, 2:34 PM
to me, JOHN

Peking duck springs a leak
Heritable Ralph Meeker

Working 9 to 5
Long-last imaginations liberated enthralled
Kissing Us Deadly


Jim Leftwich
Sun, Apr 19, 2:47 PM
to John, JOHN

Speaking of hairy
Tables, is
Imagination a marathon or
A sprint?


John Crouse
Sun, Apr 19, 2:56 PM
to me, JOHN

Turtledove fairy tales
both bolt and chug
blessing long hauls weighs
turning round tables aground
hoary telethon nationals
take flight


Jim Leftwich
Sun, Apr 19, 3:00 PM
to John, JOHN

Tabletapping
volt and tong
detune
     the teeth
to bite
  the Light


John Crouse
Sun, Apr 19, 3:06 PM
to me, JOHN

Trip the sprite fanatic
Voit and Spalding
Dipthong Piano
Armed to the delight
Bequeath the light


Jim Leftwich
Sun, Apr 19, 3:14 PM
to John, JOHN

ripening in rites
spasmodic flanger
blindside pick
by the catpiano
We aim to please
waltzing out in
the striped light


John Crouse
Sun, Apr 19, 3:21 PM
to me, JOHN

poor richard
igor integral
ironsides schtick
vonnegut bylaw
bullseye tweeze
the band pouting
the zebra flite


Jim Leftwich
Sun, Apr 19, 3:42 PM
to John, JOHN

door-chard
Gore of the Grail
snide and ticklish
Gutsy By Law
A full eyesneeze
  bandit
  snout
  thief, the if
Sea-Brains flickering
Making love to
A Vampire
by the Campfire
pudding onion
to Carson City


John Crouse
Sun, Apr 19, 3:57 PM
to me, JOHN

Cattle guard orchard
Verbatim snail
Pride and pickle
Down by coleslaw
A fools myopic gesundheit
Clout Frito Baghdad
Spliff sea monkey knickers
Mistaking glove a
Sapsucker abide
Bonfire grunion
Arson entreaty

Connor Orrico - Three poems

1. home (n.)

to long to be

home

ham (Old English), 

"dwelling place, house, 

abode, fixed residence; estate; 

village; region, country,"

from *haimaz (Proto-Germanic),

“home”

place

/ hem (Old Frisian)

/ hemir/heima (Old Norse)

/ hjem (Danish)

/ heem (Middle Dutch)

/ heim (German)

/ haims (Gothic)

history

from *(t)koimo- (PIE),

root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be

home;"

perhaps a story of being

& ubeity -- of person & place; 

homestead homeostasis

to belong

home

Jeff Harrison - Villanelle

her humility would have loved this fretful music
virtue did not tempt him to a rhyming union with obligation
- how many walls have been adorned with indignity?

the duality of an impulse and nineteen lines is here recovered
temptation is satiated with a single word from Virginia
her humility would have loved this fretful music

the wonder is you would have it glaring whitely!
virtuousness, that is, which has a thick black pigment
- how many walls have been adorned with indignity?

cryptograms are nothing but arithmetical hoaxes
tempting choirs to call a noise a tune, strength in numbers!
her humility would have loved this fretful music

Virginia's eyes were glassed with uncomfortable recollection
virtue, nonetheless, keeps on dancing the Roger of Coverly
- how many walls have been adorned with indignity?

this trap will let you have your joke
tempters are always courteous when paying court to Virtue
her humility would have loved this fretful music
- how many walls have been adorned with indignity?

J. D. Nelson - three poems

1. there once was a listening burd who didn’t sing & only listened

he heard yelling

it was a tree next to a hole in the ground

he said don’t worry you have a root system that will keep you from falling in

and the tree seemed to be comforted by this

***

2. "a" is for applesauce in a five-gallon bucket

earth knows him and welcomes his contributions

the machines like them and so do we

a mirror clam of the daisy face

a landing pad for the insects we call oink lasers

make up some worms

aliens clone pine cones

clumps of clumb, boxing blarg

***

3. oatmeal worm

tiger’s head floating in space

baby blades

here in the village with no socks on our feet

gunched crumb

sitting in the chair of the morning sitting and thinking

plunk was a cushion

the monster waited around and read some magazines

but the people never showed up

oh well he said I guess I’ll go hungry tonight

and he curled up in a ball and fell asleep

the head is removable which is a nice feature

Sheila Murphy - two poems

Post

one of my own
path coming to
replenish
earth’s grand
harm the peaceful
huge together stays
aware and carries
none of us
each the sea
alone the prayer
returned to matter
come to love


***
Staying Home Immune
the story of a flower
making its way through
sidewalk grace
wind standing
back to temper
roof becomes
our only light

Stephen House - Two Poems

Stephen House is an award winning playwright, poet and actor. He has had many plays commissioned and produced. He’s won two Awgie Awards (Australian Writer’s Guild), an Adelaide Fringe Award, First Prize Rhonda Jancovich Poetry Award for Social Justice, The Goolwa Poetry Cup, First Prize SA Writers / Feast Short Story Prize & Second Prize Poetry at Sawmillers. He has been shortlisted / highly commended for Lane Cove Poetry Award, Overland’s Fair Australia Fiction Prize, Patrick White Playwright and Queensland Premier Drama Awards, the Tom Collins, Robyn Mathison, Eyre writers, Mindshare, Rhonda Jankovic Poetry Awards, Di Cranston Script Award, and a Greenroom best actor Award. He has received Australia Council Canada and Ireland literature residencies, and an Asia-link India literature residency. He has seen his plays and poems published, including by Currency Press, Australian Script Centre, Australian Poetry Journal, The Blue Nib Ireland and many websites internationally. His poetry collection “real and unreal” was selected for publication by ICOE Press Australia. He travels widely and continues to perform his acclaimed monologues, “Almost Face To Face” and “Appalling Behaviour”.

Bruce McRae - Three poems

1. To The Powers Of Twelve

Two-faced January,
frigid February,
a baneful March.
Falling through the numbers,
April vindictive,
May the animal
we’ve long suspected.

A sudden June has befallen us,
planets in regression.
A heated July.
An argumentative August,
its fugs and thunders.
September made of wax.
Luscious October,
posed provocatively,
like a cold shower.

November undressed.
The bastard-child
they coined December.
A blow to the sternum.
A lowly servant
to reason’s master.

***
2. The Palm Of My Hand

Render unto Caesar, sayeth the taxman,
his face like a final demand,
his face like a stormy Monday morning.
Like a door kicked in.

Your name is underscored in red,
thus spaketh the taxman, his jaw clenched
like a fist, like a knotted rope of hair.
His words were spit and bitten.

Discomfited, for want of another term,
I examined closely the holes in my hands.
My mind wandered childhood’s summers.
I lay in the tall grass and surrendered sweetly.

***
3. Wrong-Headed Prophet

I’ve a face like a torn curtain.
A face like a punched wall or rat’s dinner.
Like a smoking battlefield.
What Shakespeare would tag rudely stamped
and curtailed of fair proportion.

A stranger in stranger times,
a frightener of small children,
I’m not the prettiest angel in the choir,
my face like a crumpled map
jammed in haste to the back of drawer.
Like a dog chewing a hornet
or car crash on a desert road.
Where few are known to travel.
Where the unloved walk alone.

Patricia Walsh - 2 poems

Patricia Walsh was born and raised in the parish of Mourneabbey, Co Cork.  Her first collection of poetry titled Continuity Errors was published in 2010, and a novel titled the Quest for Lost Éire, in 2014.  Her poetry has been published in Southword; Narrator International;  Third Point Press, Revival Journal; Seventh Quarry; Hesterglock Press; The Quarryman; Unlikely Stories; and Otherwise Engaged.  A further collection of poetry, titled Outstanding Balance, is scheduled for publication in March of 2020.  She was the featured poet in the inaugural edition of Fishbowl Magazine, and is a regular attendee at the O Bheal poetry night in Cork city.