Daily Archives: March 11, 2014

16 posts

“INHUMAN” Award Nominations!

Joshua_Gage_-_InhumanCongratulations to Joshua Gage, who has been nominated for both the 2014 Best Chapbook Elgin Award AND the 2014 Best Short Poem Rhysling Award!

 

The Elgin nomination is for Josh’s Poet’s Haven Author Series chapbook INHUMAN: Haiku from the Zombie Apocalypse, and the Rhysling nomination is for one of the haiku appearing in INHUMAN!  To celebrate this, we have marked the book down to just $5 (plus FREE SHIPPING) through the Elgin voting period!  (Markdown ends on August 15.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“If Forgetting is Death” by April Mae Berza

If forgetting is death, let me die

Alone in this wilderness

Defeated from the senses

A political exile, a rebel

 

Let my salty memories

Numb the ocean as I swim

Into the vastness of reason

 

The car keys, the glasses,

And the birthdays ignore

The tradition of remembering

As one passes on a legacy

 

Succumbing to the beloved,

I ask the mirrors to break

The reflection

 

Let me die once more

Trying to forget the reasons

Of forgetting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April Mae Berza is a member of Poetic Genius Society.  Her poems and short stories have appeared in numerous publications in the US, Romania, India, Japan, and the Philippines.  Nominated in 2012 International Who’s Who in Poetry, her poem was broadcast on IndoPacific Radio. She lives in the Philippines.  She is online at facebook.com/shakespril.mae.

“Impact” by A.J. Huffman

Point
of collision.
Disruption. Abrasive
interaction. Forceful
commingling of non-
adjoinable parts. Pieces
forced
into flight. Mock
e x p l o s i o n.
The sound of scraping
debris against pavement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.J. Huffman is the author of seven solo chapbooks (including Inside the Walls of a Blackened Book) and co-author of one joint chapbook, published by various small presses. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the winner of the 2012 Promise of Light Haiku Contest. Her poetry, fiction, and haiku have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, Kritya, and Offerta Speciale. She is the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press.

“1986” by Maureen Daniels

The year after my mother discovered

what would kill her was the year I let Tim

touch me in the downstairs bathroom,

door locked, candles lit, his 13th birthday

party on the other side of the wall.

 

That was the year the Challenger

exploded 73 seconds after take-off

and we were forced to look at the smiling

face of the dead school teacher amidst

all those astronauts, the bubble of her helmet

held on her lap like a third child.

 

That was the year my mother took me

to meet the machine that was meant

to save her. Not that I ever heard her

pray: aAt 40 she’d learned to be silent

about salvation, the hope of a life

long with age.

 

Three days after Tim’s party they took us

into the history classroom to tell us Tim

was dead. Later, at the funeral, I was told

he shot himself in the head and I pictured

that candlelit bathroom, how I’d hated his

tongue pushing into my mouth, his hand

fumbling beneath my fabrics, and that

picturesque blood on the white wall, the

splatter of him another stain on that year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maureen Daniels grew up in England and Northern California. She has a B.A. from CUNY Hunter College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from CUNY City College. She is the winner of The Doris Lipmann Prize, The Stark Short Fiction Award, The Audre Lorde Award, and others. Her poems and short stories have appeared in publications such as Lambda Literary, Pindeldyboz, Nibble, Scapegoat Review, and others. She currently lives in New York City with her family and a Dalmatian named Pink.

“Invitation” by Joan McNerney

Would you like to unwind

an afternoon at the lake?

 

Solar sparks spilling over us

in showers of golden sizzle.

 

Put on short shorts, skimpy tops,

stick our toes into oozy mud.

 

Breezes will shake treetops

while we listen to birdsongs.

 

Why not float on new grass

facing an Alice blue sky?

 

Read celestial comic strips

from mounds of clouds.

 

We can count sunbeams,

chase yellow butterflies.

 

Devour bowls of cherries

painting our lips crimson.

 

This noontime is perfumed

with illions of wild flowers.

 

Let’s go away all day… be

embraced by the goddess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Spectrum, three Bright Spring Press anthologies, and several Kind of a Hurricane publications. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses.

“The Ushers” by Maureen Daniels

I’m holding onto the arm

of the past while we walk

 

through the graveyard of our

misfortune. I can’t escape

 

the color of the rose,

the flushed face above all

 

those thick thorns that cull me

from the herd of girls who

 

follow you. My desire

is hidden in your back

 

pocket like a fat wallet

flooded with photographs.

 

This afternoon is not ripe

enough for war. I’d rather

 

be ushered out these gates

onto the glittering

 

sidewalk far from any place

we’ve ever called home. Don’t

 

remind me that the children

won’t forgive us. This marriage

 

will never be a pleasant

surprise. Any truth between us,

 

will be buried beneath the fallen

stones and grasses. I don’t need

 

your forgiveness any more

than I need this memory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maureen Daniels grew up in England and Northern California. She has a B.A. from CUNY Hunter College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from CUNY City College. She is the winner of The Doris Lipmann Prize, The Stark Short Fiction Award, The Audre Lorde Award, and others. Her poems and short stories have appeared in publications such as Lambda Literary, Pindeldyboz, Nibble, Scapegoat Review, and others. She currently lives in New York City with her family and a Dalmatian named Pink.

“Pacific Vignette” by Steven Anthony George

Wading into the oyster shell theater

I envisioned a ripple

of Aphrodite

water black

dappled

floating to the top

Am I a Nereid?

I was illumed

on the pearlescence

I reached out for the sand

 

but I was dragged away

by the evening riptide

convulsing in sound waves

I could not resist,

resonating in the clouds

wrapped in the blissful mystery

you should be smooth

you should be gentle

but by god, you have cut me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Anthony George resides in Fairmont, West Virginia. His work has appeared in Houston & Nomadic Voices, Apollo’s Lyre, Short-story.me, and Eclectic Flash. Steven is active in the autism community and often speaks publicly on the topic of autism.  He is online at facebook.com/sageorge.dyingofpoetry.

“The Goldfish” by A.J. Huffman

The goldfish

echo the window’s pain. Contained,

held, prisoner of iconic juxtaposition.

Glass reflects glass, allowing clear and

unobstructed view of pond. Cup attempted

emulation of ocean can only crack

against the edges of reality, fade

into the background of misfortune’s foreground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(after “Goldfish Glass,” photograph by Herbert List)

 

 

A.J. Huffman is the author of seven solo chapbooks (including Inside the Walls of a Blackened Book) and co-author of one joint chapbook, published by various small presses. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the winner of the 2012 Promise of Light Haiku Contest. Her poetry, fiction, and haiku have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, Kritya, and Offerta Speciale. She is the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press.

“This Morning” by Joan McNerney

Between deep night

and soft dawn the

mist covers fields

spreading over daisies

climbing bunchberries

wetting seeds, leaves.

 

Milky smoke roams

back and forth

wandering voiceless

through mountains

of morning.

 

Whistling in fog

past sycamores

warblers seesaw

up cloudy layers

up up circling

toward heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Spectrum, three Bright Spring Press anthologies, and several Kind of a Hurricane publications. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses.

three untitled haiku by Jesus Chameleon

thinking charity…
messaging icons pop up
green online check

 

feeling humid air…
turning fan cools sweaty skin
a night of writing

 

friends escape winter…
pc, phone batteries charged
the mature at rest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus Chameleon is the nom de plume of a poet and essayist. His first book of unpublished poetry was selected for consideration (but did not win) a 2011 Poetry Society of America National Chapbook Fellowship. He is online at jesuschameleon.webs.com.

“Palmistry” by Maureen Daniels

She stretches her arms

toward the maddening stars.

 

Her lips which no longer love me

cower against her teeth

 

when I smile in the direction

she turns her face,

 

the way a bird might flinch

from a startling sound.

 

Today we sat by the sea

without speaking,

 

and I leaned against

the brown warmth of her skin,

 

so dizzy from what I wanted

and I wondered, with the breeze

 

in the salt twists of her hair,

those visionary palms, and her belly

 

that breathed as if it were holding

something it could not release,

 

if this was the closest I would get

to what I imagine is love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maureen Daniels grew up in England and Northern California. She has a B.A. from CUNY Hunter College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from CUNY City College. She is the winner of The Doris Lipmann Prize, The Stark Short Fiction Award, The Audre Lorde Award, and others. Her poems and short stories have appeared in publications such as Lambda Literary, Pindeldyboz, Nibble, Scapegoat Review, and others. She currently lives in New York City with her family and a Dalmatian named Pink.

“Smoky Quartz” by Steven Anthony George

pixie-dancing

gauzy dresses

tower at the turbulent sea

liquid silver pooled in an oyster shell

frozen splendor

in never-changing earth

smoldering, rising

like fan coral

 

still air honing an edge

to the thinnest layer of ice

to an imperfect mirror

a monument to god’s work

as endless in depth as a soul

clear as icicles

and smooth as ancient writing

 

beauty enslaved to the voyeur

violent throes of passion stilled

like screaming angel wings trapped in glass

like a Picasso, showing all sides at once

like a time-keeper itself

 

not wise nor magical as a Merlin

but deadly as an adder

beckoning like a siren

toward a window to nowhere

 

this tobacco-stained cathedral

like two galaxies colliding

utterly ignores me

It whispers,

“You can come no closer.

I resist you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Anthony George resides in Fairmont, West Virginia. His work has appeared in Houston & Nomadic Voices, Apollo’s Lyre, Short-story.me, and Eclectic Flash. Steven is active in the autism community and often speaks publicly on the topic of autism.  He is online at facebook.com/sageorge.dyingofpoetry.

“Scarves” by Joan McNerney

I want to make scarves

from the sky. Since I’m not

much of a seamstress, here’s

hoping it won’t be too hard.

 

I’ll pick up a fleecy white

cloud to cover my neck.

 

Create a dove grey shawl,

cut out pale blue ones too.

Make entire closets full.

 

At sunset I will fashion boas

of bright ruby and tangerine.

 

My midnight mantel will

gleam ebony covering my

shoulders to keep me warm.

 

If lucky I’ll find some rainbows…

kaleidoscopes to wrap up in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Spectrum, three Bright Spring Press anthologies, and several Kind of a Hurricane publications. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses.

“Fast Wind” by Robert McManes

no one

is fast enough

to catch the wind

we all have tried

legs pump up and down

lungs ready to explode

inexperience of youth shows

 

eventually we learn

to let the wind flow ahead

the goal becomes a chase

without expectations

emotions run pure

always in front

always behind

no one can win

a race against

the wind

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert D. McManes is the author of seven poetry books. Mr. McManes has had over 260 poems featured in 85 worldwide publications, including Scrivener’s Pen, Mipo Magazine, The Heron’s Nest, Poems Niederngasse, Newtopia, Muddy River Review, and Barefooot Review.

“Vinyl” by Robert McManes

the phonograph needle

never lifts without help

sometimes it skips

groove to groove

sometimes it hangs

on a single sound

a word, a note

over and over

 

this is my generation

ancient technology

the pops and crackles

become reminders

imperfection will never

quite be the same

and i am not the same

vinyl will never be

digitized into perfection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert D. McManes is the author of seven poetry books. Mr. McManes has had over 260 poems featured in 85 worldwide publications, including Scrivener’s Pen, Mipo Magazine, The Heron’s Nest, Poems Niederngasse, Newtopia, Muddy River Review, and Barefooot Review.

“Day After Easter in South America” by Valentina Cano

In a courtyard

where bristling words

strolled in navy

she felt the future

crackling against her skin.

It was as if a door opened

dragging in slashing wings

and years packed in snow.

Her breath was an ice pick

in her chest

as the cold took her hand.

She knew it’d be too long

before it let her go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentina Cano is a student of classical singing who spends whatever free time either writing or reading. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Web and the Pushcart Prize. Her debut novel, The Rose Master, will be published in 2014. She is online at carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com.