Jesus Has Left The Building by Susan Tepper

A child, I secretly wept
in my tissue 
during Stations of the Cross,
the chapel dank, dim lit
against brilliant stained glass
All the little girl voices
in repeat.
I could not bear witness 
to the man flogged
under his load, 
thorned in the valley of blood 
the shadow of death,
station by station 
that stiff pew, crumpling
the tissue my mother had provided
into dust.

Susan Tepper is the author of nine published books of fiction and poetry. Her most current are a poetry chap CONFESS (Cervena Barva Press, 2020) and a funky road novel WHAT DRIVES MEN (Wilderness House Press, 2019).  Currently she is in pre-production of a play she adapted from an earlier novel about artist Jackson Pollock in his later years. www.susantepper.com

Angels Along The Lost Highway by Kevin M. Hibshman

The angels took a detour into the desert.
Lachrymose, they set about hedging their bets as they surveyed the expanse of sand before them.
God, that great task master, was beginning to infuriate them with his endless demands on their time.
They missed the bright neon and garish spectacle of city life.
One spoke aloud the others' thoughts:
“Immortality is wasted on the wise.”

Kevin M. Hibshman has had poems published in many journals and magazines world wide.

 In addition, he has edited his poetry zine, Fearless, since 1990 and is the author of sixteen chapbooks including Love Sex Death Dreams (Green Bean Press, 2000) and Incessant Shining (Alternating Current, 2011).

Down to Barney’s by John Drudge

 I walk down La Cienega
From Sunset 
Stilted and starched 
To Barney’s 
To get out from the rain 
Remembering you 
Like a worn vision 
In a whiskey dream 
Warm to the throat 
But cold to the heart 
Smiling in the corner 
And alone 
And I remember how we always 
Moved after that 
Familiar and ashamed 
Like the coming hours 
Of morning 

John works as a clinical social worker and is the president of a national disability management company. He holds degrees in Social Work, Psychology, and Rehabilitation Services and has studied philosophy extensively.  He is an avid traveler and a long-term student of the martial arts holding a 3rd degree black-belt in Kempo Karate. His diverse educational and experiential background gives him a broad base from which to approach many topics in his poetry. John currently lives with his wife and two children in Caledon, Ontario, Canada. 

Glistening by Susan Tepper

Look down the river 
running both ways
glistening—
A blessing or curse
confuses the fish
& darkened your pillow
while you slept
unknowing
Scarcely able to 
drum up nightmares 
this bleak—
So here you are
cast in the net
of your making

Susan Tepper is the author of nine published books of fiction and poetry. Her most current are a poetry chap CONFESS (Cervena Barva Press, 2020) and a funky road novel WHAT DRIVES MEN (Wilderness House Press, 2019).  Currently she is in pre-production of a play she adapted from an earlier novel about artist Jackson Pollock in his later years. www.susantepper.com