Striving By Alex Z. Salinas

Larry Rios—murderer and unrenowned Chicano poet—strives to pen the realest poem of all time. How to accomplish that? First, accept that 70% of life is false advertising. Second, appreciate the blood-soaked earth. Third, limit cheesy, sentimental adverbs. I mean, really limit them. Last, write opposite of what you’d tell your mother. Easy. Then suddenly Larry is sidetracked at work. He commiserates with colleagues. He reluctantly buys a fish. He thinks about his (s)ex. He chews on last words of his favorite novels. He writes frog poems to generate better ideas. He takes hot showers, hopes the fog inside clears.

Alex Z. Salinas lives in San Antonio, Texas. He is the author of WARBLES, a full-length poetry collection from Hekate Publishing (2019). His short fiction, poetry and op-eds have appeared in various print and digital publications, including in The Crossroads Magazine, and he serves as poetry editor for the San Antonio Review. He holds an M.A. in English Literature and Language from St. Mary’s University.

Stephen. By John Doyle

Stephen’s everyone's friend.

Stephen looks like Rob Halford, but it's ironic -

his sociology friends laugh; Stephen - eating lentils

so everyone knows how right-on he is.

Stephen dated Amanda - it didn't last, but no-one's bitter -

Stephen’s everyone's friend. He told me call up tonight -

I even brought blank cassettes 

so he could rip some Devendra Banhart for me.

Who the fuck is Devendra Banhart? I think.

The dead weight fog of cannabis 

and pseudo-intellectual chatter warns me

from his door. I leave his illusion behind me

after knock number three; I go home and listen to Cedar Walton

John Doyle became a Mod again in the summer of 2017 to fight off his impending mid-life crisis; whether this has been a success remains to be seen. He has has two collections published to date, A Stirring at Dusk in 2017, and Songs for Boys Called Wendell Gomez in 2018, both on PSKI's Porch. 

Note To A Fartist Fraud. By John Patrick Robbins

                      

You sent me your books in some childish attempt to impress me .

Like some jilted lover who shows up at the bar with some transitional boyfriend in hand.

I wasn't impressed then by your words and I am far from impressed now.

Your dummy press run by some assholes in need of cash from another press are the one's I hold my sympathy for.

I hold no respect for neither of you .

 But I was grateful for one thing.

I had just run out of toilet paper and now had something to wipe my ass with.

Although the quality truly was below my standards. 

Nice try jackass !, better luck in your next life .

John Patrick Robbins : Is the editor in chief of the Rye Whiskey Review , Under The Bleachers , Drinkers Only and The Black Shamrock Magazine.

His work has been published by. Ariel Chart , Punk Noir Magazine , Piker Press, Blognostics , Red Fez , The San Antonio Review , The San Pedro River Review, The Blue Nib.

He is also the author of Sex, Drugs & Poetry By Whiskey City Press And Once Upon A Nervous Breakdown from Soma Publishing.

His work is always unfiltered .

No One Wants Anything to Get Better. By Ryan Quinn Flanagan

I’ll let you in on the secret of secrets,

no one wants anything to get better

and the more people that die, the better.

They will never tell you this.

Not in the papers and not in person.

You will only read it here because I am honest and wholly unattached.

A free agent left to dredge the waiting riverbeds.

They will pray and hold vigil and shed crocodile tears on camera 

because that is what they are supposed to do.

Others that want that very same death and destruction 

will affirm such a common empathy.

Probably invoke the will of some mysterious god

with a super church large enough to host the next Super Bowl.

Congregating later at a popular steakhouse

for something rare and bloody.

Something pink and seasoned

they can throw into the hungry mouth 

at the end of an eventful day.

Ryan Quinn Flanagan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada with his wife and many bears that rifle through his garbage.  His work can be found both in print and online in such places as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly,The Rye Whiskey Review, Outlaw Poetry Network, Under The Bleachers, The Dope Fiend Daily and In Between Hangovers.

Not Much . By Ryan Quinn Flanagan

You know the braggart,

the one who drinks half as much 

as everyone else 

and makes twice the noise,

back in the bathroom every three minutes

as though standing vigil over some 

shaky deathbed ugliness 

and if the relations are not in blood

or some trusted pavement burn equivalent,

what are we left with?

If the answer is not much,

I am good with that.

The clock 

mounted there on the wall

like an unwanted sexual 

partner.

Ryan Quinn Flanagan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada with his wife and many bears that rifle through his garbage.  His work can be found both in print and online in such places as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly,The Rye Whiskey Review, Outlaw Poetry Network, Under The Bleachers, The Dope Fiend Daily and In Between Hangovers.

Equinox By Alex Z. Salinas

I hear defeat 

In Coltrane’s

“Equinox,” his

Sax desperate

To slither out

Of Wittgenstein’s 

Suicide bottle, 

Yet Elvin Jones’

Drums protect 

Earth from caving

In, McCoy Tyner’s

Piano satisfies 

Like the meal my

Aunt treated me to

In grad school, 

And on this bright 

Cold morning 

Same as night,

It isn’t fair I 

Climb this hill

Alone, drag 

My feet with 

Knowledge you’re 

Gone, still I 

Zigzag to Coltrane

Up down around

The dead-end trail,

Perform for

Birds ‘n crickets,

Fly musicians

Crying chords

Of presence, 

Survival. 

Alex Z. Salinas lives in San Antonio, Texas. His full-length poetry collection, WARBLES, Is out now released by Hekate Publishing .

He is poetry editor of the San Antonio Review, and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications online.

https://www.amazon.com/WARBLES-Alex-Z-Salinas/dp/1912017857/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1573663241&refinements=p_27%3AAlex+Z.+Salinas&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Alex+Z.+Salinas

Truth And Pavement Hurt. By John Patrick Robbins

              
He told me .

"Man the problem is your just much better at this everyone else."

The kid didn't understand the sacrifice I made getting to this point .

And I prayed he never would.

This was a hollow existence filled with jealous fools and false hopes.

Empty nights and enough vices to kill even the strongest man.

He admired my page and I admired his promise for something else .

I was bound for the crash.
Strapped in for certain destruction .

To be great at anything means to be alone amongst many .
I would take happiness over accolades any day of the week .

A life seemed far better than a legacy .

I rolled the dice .

And in secrets and shadows often confessed my regret.

Now I sit atop a mountain .
A fools king with the loneliest view .

John Patrick Robbins 

Is the Editor-in-chief of The Rye Whiskey Review , Under The Bleachers, Drinkers Only and The Angel's Share Magazine. 

His work has appread in.

The San Pedro River Review , The San Antonio Review,  Piker Press , Ariel Chart , As It Ought To Be Magazine , Oddball Magazine , The Blue Nib , Punk Noir Magazine .

He is also the author of Sex Drugs & Poetry from Whiskey City Press and Once Upon A Nervous Breakdown from Soma Publishing. 

His work is always unfiltered.