Declawed Cats Shouldn’t Live Outdoors and Other Poems

By Peter Mladinic Declawed Cats Shouldn't Live Outdoors Put on an optimistic face. It’s the only way to meet oblivion. The blue t-shirt that reads Optimism. No one wants to sit In the cyber Café and think about oblivion Or in the movies before the coming attractions. Did you notice the beginnings of Public Enemies …

Rounds

By Chris Toto Zaremba I left the market slowly walking behind a stooped over elderly man.I teased, "Lets get a move on here!"He stopped, straightened out and turned to me with a chuckle,"At 92, I don't move too fast!"We ended up talking for over an hour. He was doing his 'rounds' he told me: to …

Family Urn and Other Poems

By Vibha Vasanth Family Urn Our family, by the door, has an urn Where people go after they burn; Honestly it is more of a tray Yes, the ashes sometimes fly away; I don’t want to be put there once I’m gone And this feeling only got more strong; When during one of my short …

Le Masque de Lycées and Other Poems

By Thomas Page Le Masque de Lycées We waltz to a beat of six feet apart With our black masks hiding the stories of our teeth and beards Relying on kind eyes to say hello and good morning— A masque of sorts— To hide in our rooms in thirty-odd desks with only one occupant. Cinderella's …

Forgiven

By Jim Woessner Even from a distance, I could feel the fear rising within me like mercury in a thermometer. Not that the dog was necessarily mean. I couldn’t tell from a hundred feet away. It just looked mean. And although it was on a leash, it wasn’t a particularly short leash. The dog could …

The Call

By Satabdi Saha It was time to go. The car was  scheduled to arrive after an hour or so. He sat, ruminating, heart heavy and torn, to leave the  house where he and Anjali lived for more than fifty years. The quiet little garden where they planted roses and her favourite Kamini tree beneath the …

Lithium

By Jim Bates My phone rang and I checked the screen. It was Mom. I answered, slightly peeved, “What?” I was in the middle of a wicked game of Fortnite with three other guys I’d met online, and I might have been a little short with her. Her response told I had been, and she …

Wonderland

By Steve Carr Joe pushed the screen door open with his wheelchair footrests and wheeled out onto the porch. With creaking hinges, the door slowly closed behind him as he stopped at the porch railing. The edges of the lightweight quilt around his shoulders flapped in the cold wind. He pulled it tight around him, …

Counting Crow

By Yash Seyedbagheri Crows gather on the frozen pond, pecking at the ice. Dinnertime. They peck left and right, cawing, beaks circling their domain. I clutch hole-ridden mittens, coldness rushing. My sister Nan waits, wanting to know if I found any coins today. Or dollar bills. Legs wobble. The sky shimmers pale blue and white, …

Sun Shower and Blue Skies

By Dr. Imbesat Syed Sun Shower The Sun Shower is here, Glistening its golden light on me. I'm standing here, in this sunlight, Letting it wash away every bit of shadow. As the sun washes away the shadows, The Sun Shower arrives. Washing away all the doubts, Showering joy over every soul it pours. The …