&

river of stars
I can't even explain
myself

Tom Painting
    Alanta, Georgia

the loss of our farm land keeping the moon

Dan Schwerin
    Greendale, Wisconsin

long night—
too late to take back
the e-mail

Patricia J. Machmiller
    San Jose, California

black ice
the question
behind her question

Christopher Patchel
    Mettawa, Illinois

the night before Christmas—
father & son
reconciliation

Metod Češek
    Zagorje, Slovenia

pressed in his file
of Treasury statements—
a lock of my hair

Ruth Holzer
    Herndon, Virginia

mostly air
the first meal
after her last breath

Joyce Clement
    Bristol, Connecticut

creases in my cowboy boots old horizons

Chad Lee Robinson
    Pierre, South Dakota

waiting up . . .
the rain's rhythm
becomes a prayer

Ferris Gilli
    Marietta, Georgia

from the mountains
the cooling rain . . .
I lean on my shovel

Michael Fessler
    Kanagawa, Japan

spring again
I help my mother
sit up

Ernest Wit
    Warsaw, Poland

estate sale
a jar of baby teeth
for 25¢

John J. Dunphy
    Alton, Illinois

writer's block . . .
a sparrow waits
for crumbs

Joe Kirschner
    Evanston, Illinois

another bird dream probing the tenderness under a wing

Melissa Allen
    Madison, Wisconsin

pothole—
I promise
I'll visit

paul m.
    Bristol Rhode, Island