Adam Patric Miller: Passing Through The Intersection
It made no sense to see him. He wore the leather coat he used to wear, an 8-ball on the back. Maybe this happens when you don’t acknowledge death.
Richard Hoffman: If You See Something, Say Something
I like complaining but afterward I feel ashamed
as if I met a man who had no feet from a bomb
my country sold his enemy for export rights to
this season’s coolest sneakers.
Jimmy Pappas: Invitation to join Michael Simms on Zoom, Monday, Dec. 15, 7pm ET
Join us when Michael Simms presents DIRTY REALISM on Monday, December 15 at 7 PM ET.
Murray Silverstein: Dante in Auschwitz, Ulysses in Hell
The storm that swirls in God’s dark heart,
our poor boat tossed, and sank, my crew & I all lost.
Mike Schneider: Elvis Night at Johnny’s
You wanted anything by Elvis, large
as kinetic energy, like the wiggle-waggle
of ocean breeze through palm fronds.
Hosanna. Jesus cruising down
the Avenue on his ass
Lisel Mueller: Necessities
A map of the world. Not the one in the atlas,
but the one in our heads, the one we keep coloring in.
With the blue thread of the river by which we grew up.
The green smear of the woods we first made love in.
John Guzlowski: Two poems about my mother
My mother still remembers
The long train to Magdeburg
the box cars
bleached gray
by Baltic winters
Elise Kazanjian: How To Be A Successful Dummy
Roll your googly-eyes
every few minutes.
Agree with him.
He will believe you.
CL Bledsoe: Hunting Bigfoot
I expected an overcast sky, perfect
for hiding. Maybe you were
wearing one of those sundresses
that stop my breath.
Diane Wakoski: Braised Leeks & Framboise
The Saturnian taste
of old raspberries, and the moon’s
clear-fingered insistence
of leek. These two intangible things
I owe you
Naomi Shihab Nye: Every day as a wide field, every page
And there were so many more poems to read!
Countless friends to listen to.
We didn’t have to be in the same room—
the great modern magic.
David Kirby: Significant Pieces of Information
Did you know monkeys peel bananas from the bottom up?
Ever try it that way? It’s easier. Monkeys know this.
People know it, too, or at least they do now, but
they don’t do it. People tend to be set in their ways
Ron Smith: Berlioz
“I was finishing
my cantata when the revolution broke out …
dashed off the final pages … to the sound of
stray bullets coming over the roofs and pattering
on the wall outside my window….”
Elizabeth Romero: Morning
My friend Peter and I
Argued about love one time
Before he died.
