Barbara Simmons: CAPTCHA

 

Barbara Simmons is a Wellesley College and The Writing Seminars (Johns Hopkins) alumna, a retired educator who writes to wonder and hope. Publications include NewVerse News, DoubleSpeak, Soul-Lit, Capsule Stories, Journal of Expressive Writing, Writing it Real, All Your Poems. Her book, Offertories: Exclamations and Disequilibriums, was published in 2022. 

Marian Kilcoyne: Truth, The Load Bearing Wall

I met a woman who told me that all her dreams had died

when her husband left for another woman, not younger

but older.

I wanted to tell her to find new dreams, forage for them

if she had to, turn the globe upside down and shake till

she finds a new creed.

I thought I should tell her it’s all a fudge, a myth. That all

that forever stuff changes your personhood, welds you to

one person, shrinking you daily, until you get smaller than

an atom.

She wailed that she liked shrinking to fit, being tiny, being part

of two atoms. Part of atoms against the world was her final bid.

I reeled home pondering her delusions, imbued with pity and a

dash of anger. Her dreams had died and who was I to revive

or deny them.

The man who told me I was cold was right. The man who told me

I was cold, was himself bitter, more bitter than crab-apples in summer.

I roam the shore at evening time searching for seaglass, a piece I could

roll over again and again in my hands, trying and failing to fashion a

companion heart as chary and aloof as my own.

Marian Kilcoyne is an Irish writer. She has been widely published in Ireland, USA, UK and Europe. Her poetry collection, The Heart Uncut, was published in 2020 by Wordsonthestreet publishers Galway. She lives in Mayo & Belfast. www.mariankilcoyne.com

J. K. Durick: Winter’s Sun

11 out now

They predict 14

Before the day

Is done

With us.

Though the sun

Is out

Pretending

To be

The same sun

We see

Other days.

It’s bright

Even brilliant

Without the warmth

It’s known for

Praised for

Even been

Worshipped for

at times.

But today

It’s more moon-like

Full moon-like

Just another

Pretty face

Without

That hoped for

Smile.

J. K. Durick is a retired writing teacher and online writing tutor. His recent poems have appeared in Literary Yard, Synchronized Chaos, Madswirl, Hyde Park Poetry, and Journal of Expressive Writing.

J.R. Solonche: Self-Portrait with Seventeen Hands

I am standing in the middle.

On my right is my wife.

My hand is on her waist.

On my left is my daughter.

My hand is on her shoulder.

I am holding a pencil in my hand.

I am gesturing toward the camera with it.

In my other hand is a blank sheet of paper.

I am holding the deed to my house in my hand.

I am holding a photograph of my mother in my hand.

I am holding a photograph of my father in my other hand.

I am holding my diploma from the state university.

It is framed.

I am holding it in both hands.

I am holding the key to my car.

I am holding the key to the safety deposit box in the bank.

I am holding the key to the door of my office.

I am holding the key to the box at the post office.

I hold one in each hand.

I am holding an hourglass in one hand.

The sand is running out.

My hands are folded across my chest.

I could be laughing, but there is no way to know.

The lower half of my face is covered by my hand.

Nominated for the National Book Award, the Eric Hoffer Book Award, and nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize, J.R. Solonche is the author of over 40 books of poetry and co-author of another. He lives in the Hudson Valley.

Royal Rhodes: Words in a Mirror

The mirror on its surface looks asleep,

but when you stared, it woke and tried to please

by looking in your eyes and 'round the room

to find reality a common moor

as light that waited hours in the east

flashed and blinded as I took a seat

at breakfast, hearing from the treetops taps

like code recording secrets from the past.

Each night I listen to a stoic owl

ask me who I am in tones so low

it makes me ask whenever someone dies,

who can sleep with no one by their side?

The wind and rain outside lay waste the earth,

while I longed to hear your telltale heart. 

Royal Rhodes is a retired educator who taught global religions. He enjoys reading poetry and listening to Classical music. His poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, in print and online. He lives in a small village in rural Ohio, near Old Order Amish farmers.