Howie Good: Guns of August

Dee, our across-the-parking-lot neighbour, is lavishly watering the pots of zinnias that decorate her stoop. Although it’s only seven-thirty in the morning, it’s already hot, in the mid-eighties and climbing, and I am all the ages I have been. Once a long time ago I locked eyes with celebrated author Philip Roth on a street in Woodstock, New York. He was waiting for someone or something outside a store that sold newspapers and sundries. I occasionally wonder if I made a mistake by just walking past him. The sun has moved up the sky. Dee notices me and waves. She is wearing a man’s oversized T-shirt that says “Protect Gun Rights” in red, white, and blue. It isn’t clear that she intends the shirt ironically, but I can hope. All her flowers are alight.

Howie Good is a writer living on Cape Cod. His newest book, The Dark, is available from Sacred Parasite, a Berlin-based publisher.

Kevin Stuart Brodie: Tremors

He braces his shoulder
against the cold plaster wall
to steady himself.
Shuts his eyes 
to focus.
 
His hand trembles,
a frantic cardiograph
driven by blood weaving
through his brain, where 
dopamine starved neurons
will pulsate, whither.
 
The envelope flaps like
an old baseball card
wedged into his bicycle spokes
on days he used to race down
the Highland Avenue hill.
The bike with the handlebars
he couldn’t always grip
and the pedals 
his feet sometimes missed.
 
Cursing, he tries again
but the mail slot
is too thin for him now.
Last week, she had to
tie his shoelaces. 
He remembers the fragrance
of cucumber and spice
when he leaned over 
to kiss her on the head.
 
He wonders when his
muscles will harden,
no longer able to pry
his mouth open for the pills--
the new ones the doctor said
probably wouldn’t work
but were still worth a try.

Kevin Stuart Brodie has had four plays produced and two screenplays have been optioned by production companies. He has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize in poetry.  He was also a 2020 Writer-in-Residence at the historic home of Edwin Way Teale, and at Millay Arts in 2021 and 2023. www.kevinstuartbrodie.com

Ellie Rose McKee: Hello, My Name is God

My name is Son.

                           Is Spirit.

Is lost and found in a thousand

tongues of men.

My name is what you used

to cry in the night. In the days

of destruction. Back, back!

History is in my veins.

Is tattoos on your flesh.

I am the colour white.

A prism of scarred skin.

Blood-red rainbow running

deep underneath and

behind. A reflection only

as real as the object being

viewed. The thing

you look at and no

longer name.

Always see through, now.

My name is Ghost.

Don’t you recall? 

Ellie Rose McKee is a published poet, short story writer, and novelist as well as someone who dabbles in traditional art. Her website is ellierosemckee.com

Fianna: FAST | LIFE

Fianna (Fiona Russell Dodwell) is from Fife and lives in the Fens. Her first poems were published in IS&T. She has since had about 70 published, including in Lighthouse Literary Journal, York Mix, Ofi Press Magazine, The Caterpillar, Under the Basho, The Curly Mind, VOLT Magazine and OSMOSIS.

Maureen Sherbondy: Cremation Jewellery

In that centre setting where diamonds and rubies

are typically displayed for eyes to admire,

now your dearly departed can be artfully encased—
ashes of loved ones presented centre stage on gold
and platinum rings. Eternal holder for dear mama.
Take her with you to cocktail parties and family weddings.
Lift her up. Allow those ashen legs and arms to sway
left and right as you cha-cha across the dance floor.
Show and twirl Mom along the way. Wear her to all places
that in life she once stubbornly refused to go.

Maureen Sherbondy’s forthcoming book is The Body Remembers. She lives in Durham, NC. www.maureensherbondy.com

Jackie Chou: Waiting for the Swallow to Arrive

I search my heart 
for some kind of bird.

A swallow returning in spring
with a belly full
of stories.

But I find none,
not a sound or a blue feather,
my heart neither singing
nor fluttering,
as I lose my youth
spring after spring,
running out 
of words.

The blank page is a dry dam 
to be filled with rainwater,
where phantom shadows
of birds of absence 
glide across.

Jackie Chou is a poet from Southern California. Her poems have recently appeared in Lee Herrick's Our California Project. She is the author of two collections of poetry, The Sorceress and Finding My Heart in Love and Loss (Cyberwit Press).

Miriam Sagan: untitled

It’s as if

I missed the ferry

And had to kill hours

On the slip

Sipping coffee, perusing

The little store

Where I know every item by heart

Mist turns to light rain

I check the ticket

In my pocket

Of course I can’t see

The island from here

But even through the fog

I can feel it

Miriam Sagan is lying around recovering from Covid in Santa Fe, New Mexico and writing short poems. Her most recent book of poetry, spring 2024, is THANKS FOR STOPPING BY from Blue Edge Books.

Carol Shillibeer: sign flower

after three or four names \ finger spelt \we give up 

Johnny Jump Up is too long \ wild strawberry
buttercups and shooting stars my ASL too thin to cope
muscle & flesh of knowledge breaks apart our signs
broken pieces flutter like falling petals
I laugh and she
five, pulling me along the path from the longhouse to the dark
forest’s edge \ ponderosa guarded by rose scrub \ wants
more.

The gap between my voice & her hands
swallows what I can name
unpicks linguistic evolution.

I pull back against her hand \ kneel \ try to make my hands speak.

SAME SAME
ME

I sign \ she dips. Nose to the pale skin of the dirt
to the place where root and stem meet
petals edging a deep well of colour

flower \ the sign over my nose – and
SMELL

She grins, sniffs.

Five-year-old-fist nods yes \ understand \ smell name.
NAME / SMELL / NAME / SMELL / NAME

She jumps up and runs pointing toward the forest, flashing loudly

MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE

Carol Shillibeer's poems have been published in many print and online publications, including Drunk Monkeys, filling Station Magazine, Modern Poetry Quarterly Review and Posit Journal. She has received nominations for both Pushcart and Best of Net. Her most recent book, Lune /-/ aria, was published by Dancing Girl Press, 2023 under the name Pearl Button.