The very first timeI had sex was with you.And in spite of the pain and bloodI feltThe long deep spectacular spasms.So full of wondermentEven thenI knewI would never do thisWith anyone else.But for the rest of my lifeI would want only you. Continue reading To Alan on Our Fifty-Second Anniversary by Diana Sher
It will be worth it, the point from whichthe embargo is liftedand suitors can move in, althougha brief spanin human years that will lead togrief and lonelinessat some ungodly age but for nowit is foundedin pleasure and forward thinking, as lovenot blood invisiblytraces your heart with another’s finger and you embracea measured eagerness with eyes on a level like the horizon sun until one setsmost … Continue reading The Beginning of a Long-Term Relationship by John Grey
Here is the world in its faulty treaties, crossed borders, olive groves and rose bushes. Ocean-sea currents of the turtles, and wind. Here are people living on through wars, sides, think pieces. We like to think—like to argue—that the sides are different, that the powers that be are trustworthy,but really everyone is in bed with everyone else. Here is this metal taken from that land … Continue reading Poem For the State of the World by Ella Middleton
only five feet tall,about the heightof my mother,with those short legs,Van Dyke beard,thick lips,pince-nez, hishat and brushesand palette. (Iwonder if theshort guy whoalways walks downStorer Streethas the same con-dition, pycnodysostosis,say that three timesfast?) how he lovedthe whores, the nightlife, their acceptance,everyone havinga good time untilit killed them. butmostly of how hepainted a portraitof Van Gogh andchallenged de Groux,who had put theDutchman down, toa duel backed … Continue reading Of Toulouse-Lautrec by Frank Freeman
The stars know everything—how we toiledover every piece of furniture we own—the mohair sofa with its button tufts,the dining room table sweat-polished smoothas glass, your dad’s easy-glide Barcalounger.We thought the bed too tame—mundaneas white-on-rice. That was before we did it on the lawnat four a.m., the boat dock when the tide was out, the army hammock and the diving board.We worked over the meadow, the hayloft,the … Continue reading Come, Lovers of Dark Corners by Dale Champlin
Tastes like chicken but like everything else it’s not.The liver is Nagasaki.The lungs Hiroshima or Jesse James andDear Old Death comes to us all butthe quiver is fantastic.Like lips full of bees.Like a bucket of glue and no one but you.Hey Toshi! It’s Number One on the Hit Parade!Who cares that The Deal is about to go down the Crapper.Or that we may have to … Continue reading Don’t Eat the Blowfish by Charlie Robert
These people were mostly men dressed in green corn stalks. Or was it seaweed? I’m not sure. They rode roller coaster conveyor belts higher and higher in search of food and a place to shelter. I’m afraid of heights. They temporarily adopted me and shared what appeared to be a secret code. Written in some unknown language on a piece of burlap. But like a … Continue reading A Day at the Mall or Gladiators’ Cocktail Hour by Frankie Laufer
When our affair endedthe bed, the linens, the pillows witheredtaking our shrill moans with them.Even the dust on the carpet was still, so quietand threadbare—gray where vibrant plush used to be.I hated to see the wreckageand I hated to see the termination of our lust.I hated to see us go. At the beginningthe weather was good, I remember.We watched spring birds sing their hearts outcarnal … Continue reading The End by Dale Champlin
My story seemed as fulsome as real time could make it.I saw storm fronts arrive bringing wind shifts on the flats.I heard rustling in dark corners that I tried to enlighten, enliven.There were conversations that I couldn’t forget, and nowthey’ve grown gargantuan, I listened, I heard.And the voice of Miley Cyrus wafted through the hall: was it a moan?Why did her loss of love matter … Continue reading A Globe by Dale Cottingham
explaining to my bossafter two weeks at emailsthat I think I’m not suitedto the job—not if I’m honestwith him and myself. rising like an eaglein front of his desk.like a falcon. a flap-upof pigeons. sky burning. words cannon-blasts. I’ve costus both money. been latevery often. hungover. uninterestedin canteen-room gossip. no—I agree—I am notwhat they’re looking for. go to hell, the flags signal,go bloody to hell.eyes … Continue reading Eyes Flash and Blood by DS Maolalai
