No Sleeping Through It By Alicia Mathias

 
  sloshes of ink

splash my palm

   split my wrist



and translate

  a cloud's

       ache



     storms reignite

     and jump

           tracks


      trains

  are runaway

   words



            flicking

        bits

            of tornado



   i will let them

          wear

                    me

Alicia Mathias is a writer, artist, and photographer. Her poems and/or artwork, can be seen in: Ann Arbor Review, The Bitter Oleander, bradlaughsfinger, The Canopy Review, Chiron Review, Clockwise Cat, Fearless, January Review Journal, SetU Magazine, Newington Blue Press, Porter Gulch Review, The Rye Whiskey Review, Sore Dove Press, Unlikely Stories Mark V,  and elsewhere. She lives in New York, with her favorite muse, Zeppelin the Wonder Cat. 

this morning by Scott Ferry

 i shear the charred roses off
near the vibrant ones still breathing
i also cut the petal-less heads off before
they grow into hips
 
i let them fall to the ground
some dead get stuck in with the living
tangled in the branches but too many thorns
to try and extract them
 
i do this with my voice sometimes
i do this with my spirit sometimes
i cut and cut and cut and hope
i don’t cut an artery
 
or a silvery thread
i hope i can still pretend to be
what i pretend to be i hope to still
hope with all of these amputations
 
i love too much i have been told
i love too little i have been told
i have cut the dead accusations
i have cut
 
i remember only to be soft
with my grip when lifting my barbed arms
when carrying them to the garbage
when holding up what remains

Scott Ferry helps our Veterans heal as a RN. He has recent work in the American Journal of Poetry, Misfit, and Spillway. His second book, Mr. Rogers kills fruit flies, is available from Main St. Rag. You can find more of his work @ ferrypoetry.com. 

Once Upon A Time by Ann Privateer

When we were fish
We swam together
When we were trees
We grew close
Enough to touch
Now we’re in cars
And apart.

Ann Privateer is a poet, artist, and photographer. Some of the her recent work has appeared in Third Wednesday and Entering to name a few.

Snapshot Flashback by Ivan Jenson

I have
random recall
of you leaning
over a sink
devouring a mango
at midnight
or you at a wild party
in the arms of
an Arminian guest
learning how to tango
and it’s funny how
nothing profound sticks
and I would say
my all time top pick
would be when
you encouraged me
to break the law
of gravity
and believe
in myself
like nobody’s business
and to always
show some class
even when life
kicks me in the ass

Ivan Jenson is a fine artist, novelist and popular contemporary poet. His artwork was featured in Art in America, Art News, and Interview Magazine and has sold at auction at Christie’s. Ivan was commissioned by Absolut Vodka to make a painting titled Absolut Jenson for the brand’s national ad campaign. His Absolut paintings are in the collection of the Spiritmusuem, the museum of spirits in Stockholm, Sweden.  

Jenson's painting of the “Marlboro Man” was collected by the Philip Morris corporation. Ivan was commissioned to paint the final portrait of the late Malcolm Forbes.  Ivan has written two novels, Dead Artist and Seeing Soriah, both of which illustrate the creative and often dramatic lives of artists. Jenson's poetry is widely published (with over 600 poems published in the US, UK and Europe) in a variety of literary media. A book of Ivan Jenson's poetry was recently published by Hen House Press titled Media Child and Other Poems, which can be acquired on Amazon. Two novels by Ivan Jenson entitled, Marketing Mia and Erotic Rights have been published hardcover. 

Ivan Jenson’sl new psychological thriller The Murderess is now available on Amazon.

So Hard by Susan Isla Tepper

You cried so hard 
so long
the gods of such matters
took you at your word
your begging wish    
to transcend 
this particular channel

to go
anywhere, anywhere

You stumbled out onto 
a lost land
where you could not
breathe/ eat / tell truth
from fantasy

distinguish between 
love and war
without choking

on your own breath

Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty years published writer in all genres.  Her current project is an Off-Broadway Play on the subject of art and life.

The Chill Within The Room By John Patrick Robbins

Maybe it's a fairytale we have outgrown.

But it might just be that the glass has cracked, allowing all the magic to run out.

The dark surely will encompass all.

So hold onto whatever it takes to get you through.

Maybe, is a question that poisons hope yet bleeds an ounce of truth.

Whisper your secrets to strangers and bury your hopes for the moment.

It's a long dark night that certainly faces us all.

John Patrick Robbins is the author of the Still Night Session's 

from Whiskey City Press.

His work has been published in Punk Noir Magazine, Fearless Poetry Zine, Lothlorien  Poetry Journal, Horror Sleaze Trash, San Antonio Review, Fixator Press,Piker Press and The Dope Fiend Daily.

His work is always unfiltered. 

Green Bottles By Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal

Inebriated nights

spent in one room

as the world spun

all the way around.

The green bottles piled

up in the kitchen table.

The skies grew darker

and dreams washed away.

The singing night birds

sang a secret song for

the lonely drunken man.

Luis has lived in California for 45 years. He works in the mental health field in Los Angeles. 

His poems have appeared in Ariel Chart, Dope Fiend Daily, The Rye Whiskey Review, Under The  Bleachers, Yellow Mama Webzine, and ZYX. Kendra Steiner Editions has published 8 of his chapbooks.