April 25, 2024

Unraveling by Joan McNerney

all those mundane strings broken
mores manners, perhaps it is better
to forget names dates skills scores

we who are human who have
spoiled and squandered so much

do we long to become those primal
creatures as we were meant to be?

simply swaying with winds breathing in
flowers gazing at birds tasting raindrops
gathering sunshine on our faces






Joan McNerney’s poetry is published worldwide in over thirty-five countries in numerous literary magazines. Four Best of the Net nominations have been awarded to her. The Muse in Miniature, Love Poems for Michael, and At Work are available on Amazon.com. A new title Light & Shadows has recently been released.

April 23, 2024

In the Shadows / The Crossing by Wayne Russell

In the Shadows

On the night shift
there's no one to
talk to.

You learn that the
sounds of your own
voice is all you have.

The shadows on the
walls are shaped and
like your disparity-

they morph into the
demons hidden upon
the innate tapestry of
your soul.

The minutes tick by so
slowly, two icy hands
screeching methodical

etching the sad history
upon your gravelly heart
and you just know that

the real world will surely
continue tomorrow, in
the bloodletting sunrise
of a new day.






The Crossing

When the rain plummets down
upon flesh, soaking through to
bones that are weary-

when nightingales’ song, interwoven,
with the mourning of a starling’s weep,
dead unto the earth and slate grey

of tomb. Rise from this terminus
point, ride the waves and cast off
this salty hue-

and the flowers bloom in spring, no
mammoth flowing hillside palace can
encapsulate soaring red tail hawk-

a feather's soft touch, a rebuke of
death in the soft ebbs of twilight,
and those that are the galloping

hooves of the dark reaper's horse,
a mockery of life crossing over the

bridge into immortality.






Wayne Russell is a creative jack of all trades, master of none. Poet, rhythm guitar player, singer, artist, photographer, and author of the poetry books “Where Angels Fear” via Guerilla Genius Press, and the newly released “Splinter of the Moon” via Silver Bow Publishing, they are both available for purchase on Amazon.

April 22, 2024

Neolithic Mansion by Simon Christiansen

You can leave the house,
but no one does.
You can rebel,
but no one is in charge.
Doors are unlocked.
Unkempt rooms connect to
musty halls. Flies sleep on
pizza boxes. Hallways divide
spaces and people
into sections and groups.
Cobwebs are the cleanest homes,
twinkling in corners.
The gate could be opened
but remains closed.
Gargoyles, silent guardians.






Simon Christiansen is a writer, poet, and indie game designer living in Denmark. His poetry has been published in Neologism Poetry Journal, Dreams & Nightmares, and The Pierian. Simon has also written award-winning works of interactive fiction. His website is www.sichris.com.

April 21, 2024

Sunrise Trials of the Occupant by Ben Nardolilli

Waiting for a daybreak to remember,
the mornings that I’m waking up to now
are cold openings, and forgettable,
once, I could rise like a chinook,
to greet the day’s awaiting romance
but these matins, I slide out of the sheets,
like a snake made out of lead,
heavy, bulbous, and unable to see clear

The struggle afterwards brings no gift
or surprise behind the opening
and closing doors of apartment and train,
at work, coffee drips into waxy cups
with the same, unseasonal floral design,
at my desk I face an equilibrium
of paper piles, by nighttime, all I remember
is how the days have begun to rhyme.






Ben Nardolilli is a MFA candidate at Long Island University. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Door Is a Jar, The Delmarva Review, Red Fez, The Oklahoma Review, Quail Bell Magazine, and Slab. Follow his publishing journey at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com.

April 19, 2024

Jack-O'-Lantern Eyes / The Night by Michael Pendragon

Jack-O'-Lantern Eyes

When night descends upon the land
And dresses Halloween in black,
A row of silent pumpkins stand
On front porch stairways, back-to-back,
With ancient faces carved from slabs of time.

From out the dark, their faces glow
Like demons from some warlock's spell,
They light the night for well they know
The secrets dead men never tell
When Hell's bells toll their long forgotten chime.

Tonight the veil twixt life and death
Is thinner than a baby's breath,
Owls chant their haunting shibboleth
And ghosts are on the prowl;
The black cats yowl and twitch their tails,
The stray dogs howl, the banshee wails,
The darkness of the night prevails
While jack-o'-lanterns scowl.

But look beyond their crooked grin
To see the fire that burns within
Behind their masks of pumpkin skin
Lie thoughts they can't disguise;
And years from now when I am dead
The myriad words I've left unsaid
On Hallows Eve can still be read
Deep in my jack-o'-lantern eyes.




The Night

"Do not go gentle into that good night…"

-- Dylan Thomas


When I, at length, confront that fearsome night
That waits us all when days draw to a close,
I shall not seek, nor go into, the light
That those who've gazed into its source suppose
The path and passage to some other clime.

When I, too soon, take to my final bed
To gather every moment that has passed,
I shall not wonder where the years have fled
Nor why my mayfly dreams were doomed to last
No longer than love's "Once upon a time…"

No, I shall pierce the darkness with my stare
Defiant as a dying candle's flame,
But in my heart I'll know no one is there
Nor any here to call upon my name.






Michael Pendragon's work has appeared in The Horror Zine, Terror Tales, Evernight, Masque Noir, Tales of the Grotesque & Arabesque, etc. From 1995-2005, he published the horror zine Penny Dreadful: Tales & Poems of Fantastic Terror.  Presently, Michael edits/publishes "A Year of Sundays," a monthly ezine and annual print anthology. He is currently nominated for the Rhysling award.

April 18, 2024

Breaking Our Past by Adam Levon Brown

Breaking our past never seemed so delicious,
The fires in our hands know of nothing but pain

We forgive as we forget, the emptiness inside
Is filled with love, and the sunsets of hope

We cry when we are lied to, we love when we are loved,
And we have faith in everything daily

We are the Sun, we are the Moon, we have faith
That everything will turn out in the end, and it usually does

The brokenness we once collected, cracked sunlight
Falling into begging eyes

We love our pasts, but getting caught in them is never wise.
We laugh with our sadness, and bleed with our happiness

There is love, there is life, and there is hope, the unending serendipity
that we all share, filling the emptiness inside






Adam Levon Brown is an Award-winning poet, Mental health advocate/sufferer, and published Artist. He is the author of six poetry books. He has had his work translated in Spanish, Albanian, Arabic, and Afrikaans. He won the 2019 Blue Nib Chapbook Award, and has been shortlisted for the Erbacce Prize for Poetry four times.

April 16, 2024

A Haunting by Jan Darrow

I know you’re here

sitting bedside while I sleep
you study my face
in the dark
you watch my breath
your expression fades

at 3 a.m.
the room is cold
you’re an empty feeling
I have when I wake
you disappear through doors
roam streets in the dark
you skulk in the rain
but you never go far

weary
time fuels eternity






Having grown up in the rural Midwest, Jan Darrow connected to the natural world at an early age. You can find more of her poetry and flash fiction available on Amazon and at jandarrow.blogspot.com