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.
A conduit of dreams
And truths
Wielding words
Transforming
Connecting
A bridge
To understanding
A window into worlds
A spark
Igniting change
Journeys
Of self-discovery
Communication
The essence of us
Challenging perspectives
Touching hearts
Crafting realities
From thoughts unspoken
Wrestling the shadows
Of imagination’s depth
Breathing life
Into the unvoiced
Evolving visions
Beyond the page
Every sentence a heartbeat
Every story a reflection
A dance of ink and thought
Leaving imprints
On the eternity
Of us
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John is a social worker working in the field of disability management and holds degrees in social work, rehabilitation services, and psychology. He is the author of seven books of poetry: “March” (2019), “The Seasons of Us” (2019), New Days (2020), Fragments (2021), A Long Walk (2023), A Curious Art (2024) and Sojourns (2024) . His work has appeared widely in literary journals, magazines, and anthologies internationally. John is also a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee and lives in Caledon Ontario, Canada with his wife and two children.
Bruce Morton divides his time between Montana and Arizona. He is the author of two poetry collections: Planet Mort (2024) and Simple Arithmetic & Other Artifices (2014). His poems have appeared in numerous online and print venues. He was formerly dean at the Montana State University library.
Having spun the eyes of
carnival
creation
into
a tapestry of black silk cinema
Mistress Spider squatted
philosophically over
The navel of herstory
With a winedash pour of
self-sufficiency
Scattered glitter dialectics to
the four corners
Stretched the sun's skin and
fashioned a
Drum from it to
Procreate polyrhythms that
rival tabla dialogues
Rat rat tat machine gun
blistering blast beats of
black metal
Shapeshifting to raven stretched her
guillotine wings over the
giggling quantum foam
As coyote chuckled once more to
see humanity dash itself to
bits of pottery shards over
shallow ideals and
hollow men
Doctor Theater hovers at the door
of the final floorshow
Tickets please.
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Alex S. Johnson is the acclaimed author of Final Destination: Wipeout, Jason X: Death Moon, Bad Sunset, The Doom Hippies and Bizarrely Depared. His poetry has appeared in numerous venues including 13 Mynah Birds, Misfits, Unlikely Stories, Black Noise, and much more. John Shirley, screenwriter of the cult classic horror film The Crow starring Brandon Lee, wrote of his forthcoming dark poetry collection Thunderstruck, "Alex S. Johnson is the Baudelaire of our time; the poet of the underground." Among the honors he's received are the acquisition of Skull Vinyl and The Doom Hippies by the Widener Library at Harvard University. Johnson's upcoming works include Blood Red Romance: A Dark Poetry Collection with Alea Celeste Williams. He lives in Carmichael, California with his family.
Colliding memories
the sad bird who lost its voice
living close to crashing waves
who could compete
I felt my own voice take a turn
hurrying down the mountain road
for the train
no time to sniff lilacs
growing wild
after that it got easier
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.
Sometimes
late at night
when I can’t sleep
and the glasses
are empty
I wander down
the hallway
past bedrooms
some of them full
some of them empty
I trip over laundry
and navigate the stairs
and head into the garage
where I'll stand
and look out
into the night
usually the moon
hangs over the yard
or at least
a street light
on the far side
of the woods
breaks through
on some nights
coyotes yip
the darkness
other nights
owls echo
the shadows
but tonight
there's nothing
so I guess
I'll go back in
the house
and write a poem.
Jake St. John lives in the woods on the edge of the Salmon River. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Lips Leave Scars (with Jenn Knickerbocker, Whiskey City Press, 2023) Ring of Fog (Holy and Intoxicated Publications, 2022), Night Full of Diamonds (Whiskey City Press, 2021), and Lost City Highway (A Jabber Publication, 2019). He is the editor of Elephant and is considered an original member of the New London School of poetry. His poems have appeared in print and online journals around the world."
The end of the parade.
I stagger outside and puke
behind a dumpster.
Been a long time since I tasted that
awful burn.
My best shirt marked with that stink.
The rain on my face may be just tears.
When I can crawl I find the front door locked.
I sit on one of the chairs on the porch
and in time the rocking
no long makes me sick.
Like a boat finally run ashore.
I would practice walking
if I could stand.
Across the valley the mountains
are frosted with diamonds.
It is the most wonderful thing
I have ever seen.
