A Literary Magazine Sponsored by The University of Maine at Farmington
By Madeline Pumphrey Ode to the Blue-Ringed Octopus Laying in the shimmering sandsA brooch buried beneath the rolling waves A striking gold lemonEncrusted with luminous rings of lapis Not quite … Continue Reading “Ode to the Blue-Ringed Octopus”, “Springtime” and Three Haikus
By Miriam Manglani None were worth writing about. Many in my college days were tall.One was a body builderwith pale skin and marbled veinswho ate twelve egg whites for breakfast.We … Continue Reading Boyfriends, a History
By Travis Park I stared out the window with dead eyes. Rabbits jump in the trees springing like dead leaves. The ocean is in the view of my rearview mirror. … Continue Reading Sunsets Over
By Seth Copeland Flood Season cornflowers & firewheels dip in the wind before a flash flood every time we dream of leaving this place it tries to drown us river … Continue Reading Flood Season, Saint Christopher, and Mid-October Haibun
Spring comes with its promise of squalls,
and an old man, son of a son of a Kiowa,
stands on a starlit mesa—listens
for a muffled lament in deep gorges.
By Charlie Brice On Mother’s Day a Facebook friend asked, “What memory first comes to mind about your grandmother?” I wish I would have remembered the lilac fragrance that perfumed … Continue Reading Grandma
By Jeff Shalom Reading with a Pen I would walk through your poem but your poem is the gray uncertain curtains cloaking each phrase mined on each axis spitting words … Continue Reading “Reading with a Pen”, “Awakening”, and “Indifference”
Written By Basudev Sunani, Translated to English by Pitambar Naik WHEN DID I KILL A MAN? Once I asked a policeman well, you killed that man shooting in the chest … Continue Reading “When Did I Kill A Man?”, “Hate”, “By Any Chance He Freed”, “Mother Never Dies” and “Who Is Truly My Own?”
By Anne Whitehouse We lie on blankets in the grass grateful for the scratchy wool in the sudden chill of night deep within the virgin forest at a family reunion … Continue Reading Meteor Shower
By Michael Lee Johnson Arthritis and aging make it hard, I walk gingerly, with a cane, and walk slow, bent forward, fear threats, falls, fear denouement— I turn pages, my … Continue Reading “I Age”, “Crypt in the Sky”, and “Priscilla, Let’s Dance”
By Ev Dearborn Song carves through the lounge in disharmony,Collapsing in the foyer, to lay down on its belly by the stairwell. Her spine, feline.She convulses, coughs, grits her teeth … Continue Reading Lament for Piano
By Mark Belair The Canyon This row of old, soot-blackened buildings holds dark despite being directly struck by sun, each Structure rising, unusually, to the same height, their cornices creating … Continue Reading “The Canyon” and “At Recess
By Mike Piero Daughters for Halle She checks in on me each month, dutiful like clockwork, taking account of the numbers, the signs, and the relief from self-assumed guilt while … Continue Reading “Daughters” and “The Collector of Angels”
By John Tustin The moon touched no room but ours, our bodies made alabaster and when we finished I found your hand and then parted your lips with my own. … Continue Reading A Love Poem
By Lakshya Anant Faith, Not Hope, Not Religion I don’t have faith in hope Hope is a beggar walking through the blaze, Faith is the resilience that leaps over it. … Continue Reading FAITH
By Carolyn Sperry I’m sorry I don’t know more about you— I only heard some basic facts— but I can make it up. Maybe when you were preparing for your … Continue Reading For My Ancestor Who Had Her First Baby Alone on the Floor