Irritable Bowel Syndrome By Dan Provost

And, after finally being

able to take a shit after

three weeks of suffering…

I stood up, turned to my left,

then, forgot what I was doing.

I threw a right jab in the air…out of frustration. 

Swearing at Bukowski under my breath…

Saying to myself, “I would have taken that fat bastard

out with one punch…”

I bled on the toilet paper…

Hemorrhoids, or maybe just some leftover sadness…

Flushed, wiped off the sweat from my brow…

Picked up the book of poems I was reading by Alan Catlin…

Wishing I could be in the same stratosphere with the posey as him…

Sprayed the stench, for, my wife was coming home

from work soon…

Not yet diluted, but looking at the ceiling…

Waiting for the count.

The TKO…

That would afford me a chance

to leave

the game

for good.

Dan Provost's poetry has been published throughout the small press for a number of years. Some recent publications include: Ariel Chart, Poetical Review, Merak Magazine, Oddball Magazine, Deuce Coupe, Misfit Magazine, the Rye Whiskey Review, Cajun Mutt Press and the Dope Fiend Daily. He has two books coming out in 2020. Under the Influence of Nothingness by Kung Fu Treachery Press and Rattle of a Realizer, published by Whiskey City Press. He lives in Berlin, New Hampshire with his wife Laura and dog Bella.

Unmooring My Blue Boat That Was Hidden For So Long By Trish Saunders

 

After months in weeds, I thought my little blue boat was

ruined.

It hardly leaks at all.

Hop in, I say to a wood duck watching from the shore.   

See how it feels to be a passenger

 for a change.

He nods yes, he would like that.

and we drift, us two, for hours

over Lake Washington 

until I see a face 

staring up at me from the reeds.

Come on in, it whispers,

 the water’s fine,

which startles me awake.

The duck has flown.

How far away the shore is now, how very far away. 

Trish Saunders writes poems and short fiction from Seattle, formerly Honolulu. She has been published in The American Journal of Poetry, Punk Noir Magazine, Medusa’s Kitchen, Off The Coast, Pacifica Poetry Review, and the Rye Whiskey Review.

Fade By Wayne Russell

Sunset in full bloom

bleed out the old day

sleepily into silence

rain gentle on me into

lulling dream, we had

our moment in the sun

danced together for

a little while, but nothing

last forever, kiss me now

goodbye, join me in those

sweetest of memories.

Wayne Russell is a creative jack of all trades, master of none. Poet, singer, artist, rhythm guitarist, photographer, and author of the poetry books “Splinter of the Moon” and "Waves of Lucidity", both published via Silver Bow Publishing, they are both available for purchase on Amazon in paperback and digital formats such as Ingram Distribution at your local library.

 

ABSTRACTIONS By Susan Isla Tepper

                for Simon Perchik (1923 – 2022)

While you lay dying

my left ear bled

abstractions

streaking the pillow

— you’d unearth a poem

were you able

Day after I woke to

red filling the white

of my right eye

— both sloshed its river

But when the limb

entwined

crashed down

what was left to feed the other.

Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty year writer in all genres. Her stage play "Crooked Heart" will be featured in Origin Theatre Company 'May Play Festival', NYC.