To The First Speaker

by Derek Mong

You—who are kin to all clans;

You—who called the rain       we’ve been drowning in for eons;

      did you flinch to find   a shard …

The House at Christmas

by Maureen Boyle

Its wide dark eyes–
the picture windows of a 60s bungalow –
reflect rooms in black lakes
cold and mirrored as though slick
with tears and ice.

Early, before the day …

Blue Sky MRI

by Julie Morrissy

they leave me in a lino-cubicle
another bargain blue basket
for my bra and jeans
I pace behind the curtain
let the liquid settle

the doctor tells me to …

On the Tallest Horse in the World

By Stephen Sexton

Mirrors are not occult with bedsheets,
no communion of pipes and tobacco:

there is nothing— farewell Big Jake, alas—
nothing here approaching a wake.

I thought of him over …

Losing ‘Great White Egret’

by Moyra Donaldson

My memory’s erratic and tonight
I can’t locate your name – four syllables
just out of sight, hiding amongst the reeds

Bird out of place, you were a wonder.
I watched …

Autumnal Equinox

Julian, CA

by Angela Narciso Torres

this urge to drive somewhere—what is it?

from a fast window, even brown grass

looks exciting. rolling into town, the smell

of burnt apples. grandpas, babies, tattooed

teens squint in harsh sunlight as if …

Here

—for Padraig Regan

by Paul Maddern

Here is the inventory of stone I
could not bring myself to make
and instead I have simply
photographed where stones have
been left on turned …

The Mother of All Parliaments

by Leontia Flynn

‘The Mother of Parliaments’
is having a nervous breakdown
as we gather your things
switch off and leave the house.

The trees shake in this storm
as the day shakes in …

Mélopée

by Matthew Ryan Shelton

One may speak, one may not speak.
One may speak, one may bespeak.
What if we are two if we are one.

One may see, one may not see.
One may …

Ode to My Leopard Print Coat

after Neruda

by Carrie Etter

If there must be
winter at least
I will wear this
leopard print
cape of a coat,
thick faux fur
smelling of dried
jasmine and sweat,
drawing friends near
to …

Everything Ends

by Martha Silano

but so what. In the sultry nights of August, I’ll unravel –
wanna join me? We can pant ourselves pantless,

share a double brushfire on the raucous. Together
we can …

Rock House

by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke

This rock house loft can’t sustain the sway
from mile-deep brine water pumping back, it crumbles

like my hand crushed last winter,
car door slammed,
digits malformed into turnkeys
that don’t …