Vacillant by Lauren Scharhag

This is my heart 

on a string,

the yeah, no, 

I mean, no, yeah.

Mind on a string,

back-forth, up-down,

pink-gray yo-yo

of desire and mood,

but the body—

the body swings 

only one way,

forward-forward.

A bird breaking itself

against glass,

forever-forever,

but for you, my lips

incapable of no-no,

only heaving myself

at what is solid,

praying that

these wings

are enough.

Lauren Scharhag is the author of fourteen books, including Requiem for a Robot Dog (Cajun Mutt Press) and Languages, First and Last (Cyberwit Press). Her work has appeared in over 150 literary venues around the world. Recent honors include the Seamus Burns Creative Writing Prize, three Best of the Net nominations, and acceptance into the 2021 Antarctic Poetry Exhibition. She lives in Kansas City, MO. To learn more about her work, visit: www.laurenscharhag.blogspot.com

In The Know by Daniel S. Irwin

With a reputation for being
A studly man, a sex fiend and
A master of the lapping tongue,
As well as, commander of the
Magic ultra-satisfying hot dick,
A man could easily find himself
Desired by all wanton woman.
My question being, of course,
Where can a guy pick up one
Of them thar reputations?
But then, ya know, my life is
Already complicated enough.
I found me a fine, lusty woman,
‘Hot to trot’, as they say, and
Dang it, the rubber machine
At the gas station don’t take
The Bitcoin.  So much for my
Up to date financial savvy.

Daniel S. Irwin, a native of Sparta, Illinois.  Retired military.  Dudeist priest.  Dedicated heathen. Work published in over one hundred magazines and journals world wide.  Founder of The Hardened Sailors’ School of Vulgar Vernacular (now disbanded). Latest work can be found at/in Horror, Sleaze, Trash Magazine, Beatnik Cowboy, Cajun Mutt, The Rye Whiskey Review.  

For Now by Joseph R. Larsen

Your man is working.  Work is never done.

We look through the curtains of his and your home.

The country goes on and on without an end.

The clouds gather too thinly to rain.

They send a breeze, a hot chagrin—

A fantasy with no way out.

You mock your man, and then praise me.

His days are paid.  My time is free.

But you spend your nights with him.

I can only imagine what you do

With inches separating the two of you,

And white moonlight peering in.

You drop him off at the work yard.

An hour later, we’re going at it hard.

I hold myself to bring you home.

We make all the love time will allow.

You will always be my lover for now.

This summer will still be here after we’ve gone.

Joseph R. Larsen is a prolific poet whose poetry has been featured in various publications including Blonde on Blonde, North Country, The Panhandler, Spiky Palm, and Texas Lawyer, and he is a regular contributor to the Archway Readings. Larsen is an attorney in Houston with a wide-ranging practice including defending First Amendment rights and was given the James Madison Award in 2010 by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

 

 

JUST SAYIN' by Jay Passer

take your erasure

your ekphrastic

your haiku

and go back

to the womb

you lazy bastard

Jay Passer's work has appeared in print and online since 1988. His work has been included in several anthologies and he is the author of 10 books, the most recent being The Black and the Blues, from Alien Buddha Press, 2018. Passer lives and works in San Francisco, the city of his birth.

Holy Moly by Wayne F. Burke

“Some Catholics you kids are!”

Grandma scolds as

she ushers us out the

door, Palm Sunday—

“Hurry! You are going to be

late!”

We walk without haste to the

car.

My sister drives. My brother

sits in front and gives Sister

driving instructions.

Sister snaps “SHUT UP!

GO TO HELL!”

My brother says 

he will tell Grandma of the

language Sister uses…

A seething silence ensues.

The smoke stack of the

textile factory is higher

than the church steeple.

Sister does not dip her finger

into the holy water fount as

we enter

and as mass begins

she walks out—

her soul, I know

is black as coal

(mine white with touch of venial gray)

during the sermon

my brother falls asleep, cheek

on the varnished wood pew,

a string of drool from his mouth—

I punch him and

he wakes, but

instead of thanking me—

for saving his soul—

he whips me

on the ride home

with a palm

taken from the church.

Wayne F. Burke's poetry has been widely published in print and online (including in THE DAILY DOPE FIEND). He is author of eight collections of poetry--most recently BLACK SUMMER, Spartan Press, 2021. He lives in Vermont (USA).

RELATIONSHIP RESUMÉ by MICHAEL MINASSIAN

Just before we broke up,

my girlfriend from college

asked me if I ever

had written a record

of my relationships

like a resume, she said,

with dates, to and from,

experience, strengths, 

and weaknesses.

I wondered how long

it would take me

to write something like that.

Could I remember

names or places

and should I rate 

my favorite thing about them,

my least favorite thing,

or who broke up with who?

Skills? Objectives? References?

Please account 

for gaps in the dates.

MICHAEL MINASSIAN is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal. His chapbooks include poetry: The Arboriculturist and photography: Around the Bend. His poetry collections Time is Not a River, Morning Calm, and A Matter of Timing are all available on Amazon. A new chapbook, Jack Pays a Visit, has just been released. For more information: https://michaelminassian.com