this morning a grayness and rain –
remnants of hurricane Harvey
no wind   only rain
how quietly it falls through the pines
as though having spun away
from the eye of the storm
it only wants to rest
among the pine needles
already sleeping on the ground

Jerry Dreesen

i have the ability. quite genetic i believe. to blink either of my eyes. no not simultaneously but individually. 😉

my wink
what do you think
it really means

Michael Rehling

Church bells ring
on a street
in Mexico,
cars and guns flash–
a red stain
ragged hole shirt.

Yellow dandelion
candles glow
on a bedroom dresser,
through filmy curtains
piano music–
Debussy.

The sound sets you free
in turquoise water,
beneath pink flowers
the gunshot holds no fear.

going home
to blue bayou
a bullet always tells the truth

Susan Beth Furst

1956 saw my birth
and the devil’s rope gain ground.

I have yet learnt to fly
or succeed
where the movie star failed
to jump the wire
by motorcycle
in the Great Escape movie.

I did not leave a country by force only umbilically in a Chelsea hospital.

You left your motherland that year,
as I left my own,
and we returned together decades later to rust in old blood.

I was never really into boy bands. I mean, sure, I belted the lyrics to every Backstreet Boys song that came on the radio. And, okay, I had an N*SYNC poster on my bedroom wall. And I might have dreamt about running off to Hawaii with Taylor Hanson and those long, luxurious locks of perfect blond hair… But I swear, I was never really into boy bands.

climate change
the ice shifts
in my water glass

Elizabeth Alford