Recently published poetry & prose Peter Keller [bio][Twitter]Bird watcherused to begirl watcherbut they neverwhistled backTuesday, March 2nd, 20100.691 million seconds agoRyan O'Hanlon [bio][web][Twitter]A nation's on his shoulders, breathless at the gasp of his blades. His wrist snaps; the light shines red; a country's lungs roar.Saturday, February 27th, 20100.947 million seconds agoN. God Savage [bio][web][Twitter]When our son kills himself: dismayed. When our daughter follows suit: perplexed. Perhaps kids need rooms with windows after all.Monday, February 22nd, 20101.39 million seconds agoR. Gatwood [bio][Twitter]He tells himself Greed would have kept the goose, content with the golden eggs. It took Science to vivisect her.Wednesday, February 17th, 20101.821 million seconds agoMeera Lee Sethi [bio][web][Twitter]if pain had volumecould it fit in the body?would we be neutron starsthree suns' sorrowin the space of a beating fist?Saturday, February 13th, 20102.158 million seconds agoduncanmurrell [bio][web][Twitter]I passed the cancer wing smelling of smoke and saw a picture of a dead friend. No ashtrays anywhere, so I moved on.Friday, February 12th, 20102.241 million seconds agokristina maupin [bio][Twitter]alternative schoolteens deboard the bus like quailall over the streetMonday, February 8th, 20102.598 million seconds agoGordon Darroch [bio][web][Twitter]After his team's defeat he prowled home all geared up to murder something. She read the signs and prepared a sacrificial beer.Sunday, February 7th, 20102.683 million seconds agoBoudreau Freret [bio][web][Twitter]"If your critique doesn't hurt, it can't help me learn and grow," I said. "Then we should have a safety word," she replied.Saturday, February 6th, 20102.765 million seconds agoKevin Cutrer [bio][web][Twitter]In the beginning was the Word,and through a fine fissure of an "L" our world gushed forth in all its goddamn splendor.Friday, February 5th, 20102.858 million seconds agoBenM [bio][web][Twitter]How I know to trust her: Here, she says, try this. I put out my handand she offers me sunlight.Thursday, February 4th, 20102.938 million seconds agoJessica Otto [bio][Twitter]She could see everything: sunshine behind the windowpane, birches in a cluster, even the mental institution's pond frogs.Wednesday, February 3rd, 20103.039 million seconds agoelle wrathall [bio][Twitter]"i still don't get it. what's a metaphor?" the student mumbled. she paused, but then said it, "when you call me puta."Saturday, January 23rd, 20103.979 million seconds agoprav.us twiction [bio][web][Twitter]Once upon a time, a boy immolated a frog. His parents found him face down in the pond the next day, not a frog in sight.Friday, January 22nd, 20104.069 million seconds agoR. Gatwood [bio][Twitter]He tosses out her bottles of omega-3, antioxidants, and zinc, wondering why she didn't buckle up.Wednesday, January 20th, 20104.248 million seconds agoS. Kay [bio][Twitter]Firing coloured explosives from the dock, looking into the sky. You kiss me. I hit you back. Our combustible ritual, every year.Sunday, January 17th, 20104.498 million seconds agoOscar Windsor-Smith [bio][web][Twitter]Roasting in sun-view, suit holed, air all but gone, Zak craves grass between his toes. Facing home, he's dying to feel rain.Friday, January 15th, 20104.654 million seconds agoelle wrathall [bio][Twitter]the gas-pedal gauged her frustration at the gloom. she drove recklessly on days like these, as though she were chasing SpringTuesday, January 12th, 20104.915 million seconds agoMatthew Purdy [bio][Twitter]Obama backwards is amabo, in Latin, "I will love." So forwards must be: "They have hated." Some are still stuck in the imperfect.Sunday, January 10th, 20105.093 million seconds agoS. Kay [bio][Twitter]The merciless bride smiles at the reception line. Festivities are planned. Then he'll be all hers for the night. For life.Monday, January 4th, 20105.628 million seconds agoS. Kay [bio][Twitter]"People who don't trust others are untrustworthy," says a boy carving ice. I drink fake cocoa and ask, "How would we know?"Wednesday, December 30th, 20096.039 million seconds agoelle wrathall [bio][Twitter]she left her makeup smudged when she headed out to meet him for lunch. it wouldn't have felt honest otherwiseTuesday, December 29th, 20096.123 million seconds agoJessica Otto [bio][Twitter]We remember her with plastic roses thrown into the refuse of the Pacific. Her husband drinks in New York with his mistress.Monday, December 14th, 20097.411 million seconds agoGordon Darroch [bio][web][Twitter]'I don't want my funeral to be a sombre occasion,' Dad used to say. To this end he split his fortune between six mistresses.Sunday, December 6th, 20098.126 million seconds agoLaszlo Xalieri [bio][web][Twitter]Hollow gingerbread man, licorice lace innards, prune heart. In the head, a cookie fortune. It pounds the inside of the oven door.Thursday, December 3rd, 20098.386 million seconds agomichelle shyman [bio][web][Twitter]One hundred thousandTransparent hairs on your faceBlotting salt-hot tearsWednesday, December 2nd, 20098.469 million seconds agoGordon Darroch [bio][web][Twitter]She said she was out of my league. So I asked: "What about a cup-tie?" Really, I should have seen the penalty kick coming.Tuesday, December 1st, 20098.545 million seconds agoS. Kay [bio][Twitter]A train whistle slips through the rain. Your memory Dopplers into my past. I bleed coffee and update a pie chart.Thursday, November 26th, 20098.978 million seconds agoJonathan Pinnock [bio][web][Twitter]When she met him, the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun shone once more. The drought lasted the rest of her life.Monday, November 16th, 20099.838 million seconds agoJason Bradford [bio][Twitter]Are trees offended standingby telephone poles? Do they aspireto charged practicality?Thursday, November 12th, 200910.18 million seconds agoAndrew Taylor [bio][web][Twitter]Watford Gap verge through coffee steamhum of traffic noiseknowing we are an hour away - the beauty of the service stationTuesday, November 3rd, 200910.982 million seconds agoAndrew Taylor [bio][web][Twitter]My private motorway, from childhood football after construction to arrival at Wigan homeward bound, clear route past roundabout townSunday, November 1st, 200911.143 million seconds agoUri Grey [bio][web][Twitter]Ever since the Church replaced the Blood of Christ with the Extract of Opium, reported Visions of Mary became ever so glorious.Monday, October 19th, 200912.271 million seconds agoOlivia Berrier [bio][Twitter]I pulled the alarm as a joke. I didn't know about the real fire, but no one believed me. My school needed a hero, not a clown.Sunday, October 18th, 200912.363 million seconds agoAnn Marie Gamble [bio][web][Twitter]She marked out "susurrated" and sent the article back. "We're not writing for wine drinkers. And I want to see your receipts."Wednesday, October 14th, 200912.708 million seconds agoDeborah Walker [bio][Twitter]Charon trawls the internet for discarded avatars. Small, surplus lives, flotsam of the electronic sea.Sunday, September 27th, 200914.183 million seconds agomichelle shyman [bio][web][Twitter]A great business planCartoon character condomsThat talk like puppetsSaturday, September 19th, 200914.871 million seconds agomichelle shyman [bio][web][Twitter]A great business planYou pay me to ram, scrape, wreckBad drivers near youFriday, September 18th, 200914.963 million seconds agoChristine! [bio][web][Twitter]He is my charge. My long fuse, my ominous weather report. Nocturne, shiver. Sailboat on a moon river.Monday, August 31st, 200916.508 million seconds agoBeth Katte [bio][web][Twitter]Watching a woodpecker go at our shed with such gusto, I didn't have the heart to tell him it was aluminum.Friday, August 21st, 200917.36 million seconds agoAnn Marie Gamble [bio][web][Twitter]He sleeps so hard he looks dead. Then he sighs, unaware of the seizure of love and fear aroused in the quiet. I fold more laundry.Thursday, August 20th, 200917.462 million seconds agoAnn Marie Gamble [bio][web][Twitter]I roll your words around my mouthLike a plumTaste them.Wednesday, August 19th, 200917.555 million seconds agoMatthew Purdy [bio][Twitter]No one hates the Beatles as much as the guy calling numbers at the DMV. "Number eight," he says, then grimaces.Friday, August 7th, 200918.563 million seconds agoJeremy Lewit [bio][web][Twitter]he is a fishnet jobbing as a windsockcorkboard bobbing, hoping the sea opensunmoored, he says send me a storm for a doorwayMonday, July 13th, 200920.729 million seconds agoBeth Katte [bio][web][Twitter]vile hissing possum lost traction on its entrails can’t outrun my carFriday, July 10th, 200920.981 million seconds agoMatthew Purdy [bio][Twitter]As my friend told me about Peak Oil, my tongue fretted the crack in my bottom left molar. I nodded and took another sip of my coke.Thursday, July 9th, 200921.076 million seconds agojoannemerriam [bio][web][Twitter]In the brownstone, a couple fighting in the tub soaks the floor. Their laughter runs into the drip of your ceiling.Saturday, July 4th, 200921.501 million seconds agoRachel Sawaya [bio][web][Twitter]We throw a body off the ship and his fellows follow in a macabre necklace. Begging hands snatch my ankle as they rush by.Monday, June 29th, 200921.944 million seconds agokaolin fire [bio][web][Twitter]Non-violent protesters jailed for life. Fascist state feeds and clothes them: socialism creeps in, a hesitant embrace.Friday, June 19th, 200922.805 million seconds agoMatthew Purdy [bio][Twitter]"You're wasting music," my parents said. I turned off the radio and listened to branches scraping the house, forks tapping plates.Monday, June 1st, 200924.355 million seconds agoStephen D. Rogers [bio][web][Twitter]Each snowflake uniqueCrystalline iterationsSparkle as they dieFriday, May 29th, 200924.633 million seconds agoMatthew Purdy [bio][Twitter]The jobof the skyis to be blue.How muchdoes it pay?Thursday, May 28th, 200924.72 million seconds agoHD Grogan [bio][web][Twitter]Departing, I watch the sun expand, consuming planets like Cronus eating his young. What Zeus has left these stones in his stead?Friday, May 22nd, 200925.219 million seconds agolovehound [bio][Twitter]i prayed to the patron saint of sheep; i dreamt of cinnamon & spices from far-off lands; i walked on sunshine & brushed clouds from my eyes.Tuesday, May 12th, 200926.093 million seconds agoPeter Keller [bio][Twitter]The universe stopped expanding and started to pull back into itself. After the thaw, Henry noticed there were dinosaurs again.Saturday, May 9th, 200926.351 million seconds agoJS Graustein [bio][web][Twitter]Paul Gardner serves beer in ceramic dishes, spilling foam all over the bed. He toasts Rose: Your health, and death to snails.Tuesday, May 5th, 200926.693 million seconds agoPeter Keller [bio][Twitter]old astronautsyearn for space, unableto relate to earthSunday, May 3rd, 200926.852 million seconds agoJohn Poch [bio][web][Twitter]Love PoemSometimes my shirt makes sparks. Watch me take it off.Friday, May 1st, 200927.029 million seconds agoErin Hoffman [bio][web][Twitter]The warmth of her embrace transcends her steel skull, nylo-gelatin skin, copper arteries. Together we are more than human.Wednesday, April 29th, 200927.228 million seconds agoBen White [bio][web][Twitter]The man on the street hacks a coconut with a machete, hands it to her with a straw and a smile, his life a novelty for her soft, pale hands.Thursday, April 16th, 200928.359 million seconds agoEdmund Conti [bio][Twitter]Sweet corn for supperGrinningFrom ear to ear.Saturday, April 11th, 200928.782 million seconds agoEdmund Conti [bio][Twitter]Kamikaze Pilot When I came homeI didn't geta hero's welcome. Friday, April 10th, 200928.864 million seconds agoJennifer Cripe [bio][Twitter]Dusk In the early evening, brownglowslike neon. Faces are lostin the scufflebetween light and dark.Saturday, April 4th, 200929.349 million seconds agoadam [bio][web][Twitter]i believed youbut you added"Honestly."and i saw unfaithful sheetsheard polygamous whisperssmelled deceitful pheromonesTuesday, March 9th, 20100.084 million seconds agoIan Chung [bio][web][Twitter]After The Bomb Went Offcurling wisps rise froma robust cup of coffeecooling for no oneSaturday, March 6th, 20100.351 million seconds ago
Bird watcher
used to be
girl watcher
but they never
whistled back
A nation's on his shoulders, breathless at the gasp of his blades. His wrist snaps; the light shines red; a country's lungs roar.
When our son kills himself: dismayed. When our daughter follows suit: perplexed. Perhaps kids need rooms with windows after all.
He tells himself Greed would have kept the goose, content with the golden eggs. It took Science to vivisect her.
if pain had volume
could it fit in the body?
would we be neutron stars
three suns' sorrow
in the space of a beating fist?
I passed the cancer wing smelling of smoke and saw a picture of a dead friend. No ashtrays anywhere, so I moved on.
alternative school
teens deboard the bus like quail
all over the street
After his team's defeat he prowled home all geared up to murder something. She read the signs and prepared a sacrificial beer.
"If your critique doesn't hurt, it can't help me learn and grow," I said. "Then we should have a safety word," she replied.
In the beginning was the Word,
and through a fine fissure of an "L"
our world gushed forth
in all its goddamn splendor.
How I know to trust her:
Here, she says, try this.
I put out my hand
and she offers me sunlight.
She could see everything: sunshine behind the windowpane, birches in a cluster, even the mental institution's pond frogs.
"i still don't get it. what's a metaphor?" the student mumbled. she paused, but then said it, "when you call me puta."
Once upon a time, a boy immolated a frog. His parents found him face down in the pond the next day, not a frog in sight.
He tosses out her bottles of omega-3, antioxidants, and zinc, wondering why she didn't buckle up.
Firing coloured explosives from the dock, looking into the sky. You kiss me. I hit you back. Our combustible ritual, every year.
Roasting in sun-view, suit holed, air all but gone, Zak craves grass between his toes. Facing home, he's dying to feel rain.
the gas-pedal gauged her frustration at the gloom. she drove recklessly on days like these, as though she were chasing Spring
Obama backwards is amabo, in Latin, "I will love." So forwards must be: "They have hated." Some are still stuck in the imperfect.
The merciless bride smiles at the reception line. Festivities are planned. Then he'll be all hers for the night. For life.
"People who don't trust others are untrustworthy," says a boy carving ice. I drink fake cocoa and ask, "How would we know?"
she left her makeup smudged when she headed out to meet him for lunch. it wouldn't have felt honest otherwise
We remember her with plastic roses thrown into the refuse of the Pacific. Her husband drinks in New York with his mistress.
'I don't want my funeral to be a sombre occasion,' Dad used to say. To this end he split his fortune between six mistresses.
Hollow gingerbread man, licorice lace innards, prune heart. In the head, a cookie fortune. It pounds the inside of the oven door.
One hundred thousand
Transparent hairs on your face
Blotting salt-hot tears
She said she was out of my league. So I asked: "What about a cup-tie?" Really, I should have seen the penalty kick coming.
A train whistle slips through the rain. Your memory Dopplers into my past. I bleed coffee and update a pie chart.
When she met him, the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun shone once more. The drought lasted the rest of her life.
Are trees offended standing
by telephone poles? Do they aspire
to charged practicality?
Watford Gap verge through coffee steam
hum of traffic noise
knowing we are an hour away - the beauty of the service station
My private motorway, from childhood football after construction to arrival at Wigan homeward bound, clear route past roundabout town
Ever since the Church replaced the Blood of Christ with the Extract of Opium, reported Visions of Mary became ever so glorious.
I pulled the alarm as a joke. I didn't know about the real fire, but no one believed me. My school needed a hero, not a clown.
She marked out "susurrated" and sent the article back. "We're not writing for wine drinkers. And I want to see your receipts."
Charon trawls the internet for discarded avatars. Small, surplus lives, flotsam of the electronic sea.
A great business plan
Cartoon character condoms
That talk like puppets
You pay me to ram, scrape, wreck
Bad drivers near you
He is my charge. My long fuse, my ominous weather report. Nocturne, shiver. Sailboat on a moon river.
Watching a woodpecker go at our shed with such gusto, I didn't have the heart to tell him it was aluminum.
He sleeps so hard he looks dead. Then he sighs, unaware of the seizure of love and fear aroused in the quiet. I fold more laundry.
I roll your words around my mouth
Like a plum
Taste them.
No one hates the Beatles as much as the guy calling numbers at the DMV. "Number eight," he says, then grimaces.
he is a fishnet jobbing as a windsock
corkboard bobbing, hoping the sea opens
unmoored, he says send me a storm for a doorway
vile hissing possum
lost traction on its entrails
can’t outrun my car
As my friend told me about Peak Oil, my tongue fretted the crack in my bottom left molar. I nodded and took another sip of my coke.
In the brownstone, a couple fighting in the tub soaks the floor. Their laughter runs into the drip of your ceiling.
We throw a body off the ship and his fellows follow in a macabre necklace. Begging hands snatch my ankle as they rush by.
Non-violent protesters jailed for life. Fascist state feeds and clothes them: socialism creeps in, a hesitant embrace.
"You're wasting music," my parents said. I turned off the radio and listened to branches scraping the house, forks tapping plates.
Each snowflake unique
Crystalline iterations
Sparkle as they die
The job
of the sky
is to be blue.
How much
does it pay?
Departing, I watch the sun expand, consuming planets like Cronus eating his young. What Zeus has left these stones in his stead?
i prayed to the patron saint of sheep; i dreamt of cinnamon & spices from far-off lands; i walked on sunshine & brushed clouds from my eyes.
The universe stopped expanding and started to pull back into itself. After the thaw, Henry noticed there were dinosaurs again.
Paul Gardner serves beer in ceramic dishes, spilling foam all over the bed. He toasts Rose: Your health, and death to snails.
old astronauts
yearn for space, unable
to relate to earth
Love Poem
Sometimes my shirt makes sparks. Watch me take it off.
The warmth of her embrace transcends her steel skull, nylo-gelatin skin, copper arteries. Together we are more than human.
The man on the street hacks a coconut with a machete, hands it to her with a straw and a smile, his life a novelty for her soft, pale hands.
Sweet corn for supper
Grinning
From ear to ear.
Kamikaze Pilot
When I came home
I didn't get
a hero's welcome.
Dusk
In the early
evening, brown
glows
like neon. Faces
are lost
in the scuffle
between light and dark.
i believed you
but you added
"Honestly."
and i saw unfaithful sheets
heard polygamous whispers
smelled deceitful pheromones
After The Bomb Went Off
curling wisps rise from
a robust cup of coffee
cooling for no one
