Poetry

Robin Rich three things brokencount the parts they aremore than the wholeone jigsaw billions of parts to interlock count the parts One:body in the doorway how they have folded up their bitsrough sleepers sent off in shipstouch paper, i am a blue fuse in yourpost code Two:citizen typesbodies in movementin transport or in commute.one a… Continue reading

Merril D. Smith “When we come to itWe must confess that we are the possible”—Maya Angelou, A Brave and Startling Truth Snow falls, feather-softa silent shroud, but ice is unyielding, strident,treacherous— hard, cold, cruel—it can murder you.even if you just stand there,even if you’re trying to help others, ice can kill heroes. You could fall… Continue reading

Michelle DeRose We were warned about apples,how the seedy center might holda blade. The nutted caramel hidits invasion. Rumor, of course.Urban myth to taint the walk,wrap the fun size in suspicion.Now tear gas clouds the blockin spooky smoke, the scare to teachthat nothing sweet comes from masks. Professor Emerita of English at Aquinas College, Michelle… Continue reading

Steve Babb Thoughts on driving past the future site of the Social Circle immigrant detention center I drove past pod on barren podOf vacant warehouse spaceThe sites of future segregation cellsAnd scenes of pending crimesAlready in the planning stage They stretched on endlesslyAnd made me contemplateOur infinite capacityFor inhumanity –All of the thought and sweatAnd… Continue reading

Russell Dupont Do you suppose he smiledwhen he ordered Troopersto deny water to migrantsin the blazing heat? Do you suppose he laughedwhen he heard that,on his orders, bloodiedwomen, children, menwere forced, pushedback into the Rio Grande? Do you suppose he snickeredwhen he heard that a womanand infant girl were founddrowned near the razor wirebarrier he… Continue reading

Paul Cannon Hypocrisy is back in fashionyou can deny everythingis that why,ironically (of course),you decided to enact yourproject 1930s reduximmigration rules,a phrenologist’s wet dreama clansman’s hard-on,a dixie wishwhite rich nationalists only,toxic masculinity preferencedwomen and children asrape toysethnicity as denial,separatingmurderingmaimingmaligninggulagging,boundaries locked and loadedfor privilege,every day I searchfor your obituary. Paul Cannon is a poet and writer… Continue reading

Barbara Harris Leonhard This isn’t a sonnet about gold-leafed mantelslined with stolen trophies. It’s about our grannies, crocheting mantles of our legacies. This is a sonnetfor the Jackson Magnolia. Its demise provides space for a vast golden ballroom fashioned for the fake king.This sonnet isn’t for that great pretender. This is a sonnet about underage… Continue reading

John Steele The backyard is writhing. The ground—that expanse of leaf litter and pine needleswhere there is no grass and we are notenslaved to a nonexistent lawn—it ischurning, roiling, leaves flipping into the airlike bubbles bursting in a pre-spaghettipot of water headlong toward boiling. Wind? No wind. But robins. Dozens of robins. Blitzing insectsby instinct,… Continue reading

Julie Parker-Kinsey gossamer-thin this crimson lifeme and mine sought refuge withinimmigrants stalked by gun and knifegossamer-thin this crimson life this is how their hate becomes rifebrute force tattooed upon our skingossamer-thin this crimson lifeme and mine sought refuge within Julie Parker-Kinsey is a poet, writer of short stories, songwriter, and amateur photographer. Her work has… Continue reading

Mona Lisa More often than not,Our heroes discoverRunning into dangerAntagonizesLeaders who avoid it. Instead of praise,Near-sighted autocratsJudge according to optics,Urge us to see all sides.Righteously indignant,Yet indifferent to suffering. A friend of Mona Lisa’s once said, “You’re officially a shit-magnet” in the most caring way possible, to which she replied, “But I’ve handled all of… Continue reading