I still remember when
I stood alone and you
bade me think
not of myself but about
my thinking of myself. It
may have helped, but mostly
—just to stand outside a
memory of the cast-iron cage
my grandmother inherited…. is
its bar more lasting than the air?
Theric Jepson is just another writer spending too much time thinking about the plays Shakespeare wrote during the plague. Find him here.
Growing up, our family was skint.
A blue collar father and stay-at-home mom,
there was no depression here.
My mom could make something out of nothing
with incredible skill.
Mom could drag Christmas from Marley’s ghost
and make him sing in two octaves.
Melissa Graham lives in North Carolina with her husband. She has two grown children and three grandsons. Melissa just discovered her love of writing six months ago, inspired by the #writingcommunity and many great prompts. This is the first time her writing has been published. Melissa is not retired yet, but aspires to write more and more and work less and less.
The hawkers yelled,
The street urchins tugged.
The horns blared,
The policeman glared,
And the beggars sang raucously.
But for the first time… I felt peace.
I floated up, no longer bound,
Lighter than air…
Lighter than sound.
The bazaar throbbed around me like a beating heart,
And my heart… drunk on its loud din,
Its harsh neon light,
Beat exactly to its tune.
I walked through the bazaar no more.
I was the Bazaar…
And the Bazaar was me.
Akanksha Singh is a poet and a writer though she prefers to call herself a storyteller. Her poems have been a constant fixture in her college magazines. She also won the Honorable Mention in the Delhi Poetry Slam. Writing is her way of fending off the tedium that often afflicts technical professionals. When she is not working or writing, she often wanders into the Himalayas, living the local village life. Her travel escapades can be found on her Instagram (@_travelinghungry_). Currently she is pursuing an MBA from IIM Kozhikode.
too frightened to laugh
‘case it makes memories
for others to cry over
moments of pleasure
hang off you like cotton
caught on rusty nails
Philip Berry‘s poems have appeared in Black Bough Poetry, Lucent Dreaming, Poetry Birmingham and Lunate Fiction. He is a hospital doctor working in London. You can see more of his work on his website or on Twitter (@philaberry).
– for Carol
Stippled spray of fireweed and hawkweed
against teal and rose argillite delights
hikers beneath the Garden Wall, yes,
but careful pole plants and foot falls help
avoid the thin path’s slick stones
and surprising shoots through snow
drifts across the trail where mistaken steps
in the slush may give way to a different,
more desperate view – the thousand-foot
tumble down the sheer divide over
a vast ocean of rolling cloud, surfing
a gulf of blurred beargrass, toadflax, monkeyflower.
Larry Pike’s poetry and fiction has appeared in The Louisville Review, Seminary Ridge Review, Caesura, Exposition Review, Vitamin ZZZ, and Capsule Stories, among other publications. He has work forthcoming in Jelly Bucket. He lives in Glasgow, Kentucky.
It came around again —
like a birthday,
but no one gives presents
for simply surviving
Blow on the scars!
Put them out!
The smell of sulfur
is synonymous
with suffering
It’s not just aging
for some of us,
it’s a progression —
A new day
for the disease
to have a chance
to devour.
Jennifer Patino is an Ojibwe poet living in Las Vegas with her artist husband. She tweets poetry and microfiction stories from @thoughtthistles.
dodging upcoming webinars and poetry month sales,
along with conversations about the dangers
of conflict photography – what day is it again?
last Tuesday now feels like a classic – remembering
when the voice of tired out workers included me
now my stories are set among swings,
as I collect colored glass in the parks while reviewing
superstitions before interviews, it’s something
for the weekend, flashing all my resources on Friday
while saying live and let live to news and events
Ben Nardolilli currently lives in New York City. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Red Fez, Danse Macabre, The 22 Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Elimae, The Northampton Review, Local Train Magazine, The Minetta Review, and Yes Poetry. He blogs here and is trying to publish a novel.
A fire is burning in a distant land
And we hear that some young men
Are being undressed by fire.
They say these men
Are seeds bearing their father’s crosses
With scars of terrific moments.
They say their fathers’ fathers
Cast sharp spears of inhumanity
And threw wars onto several doors.
They say their forefathers
Left cruel marks on many walls
With blasts of human wickedness
And that the retribution of nemesis
Is only a tit for tat.
Ogedengbe Tolulope Impact is a Nigerian poet. He is a chemical engineering graduate from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. His poem ‘Tell them’ was shortlisted at the 7th Korea-Nigeria poetry feast 2017. His works have been published in Duane Poetree, Pangolin review, Amandasteelwriter, Words Rhymes & Rhythms, Literary planet, Wax poetry and art magazine, Porridge magazine, Parousia Magazine, Subsaharan magazine and elsewhere. He tweets @fruitfulimpact.
Laura Owens writes from a small apartment in Oxford, UK, and animates characters in videogames for a living. Recent pubs include perhappened mag, Versification, Detritus, and ang(st) zine’s Distanced project. Say hi on Twitter/Instagram @laurabethowens.
Briefly Write 