nine out of ten times by Steve Calamars

people do
shit with
their existence
and for
some reason
refer to
this as
a life . . .

Meditation on a Candle Flame by Howie Good

Best sometimes to ignore
what’s going on in my head

the joyful pops of static
and step off the curb

with the thousands who breathe
through paper face masks

the U-boats so close to shore
a chorus girl in a Miami penthouse

could see men die in flaming oil



Howie Good, a journalism professr at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author of 19 print and digital poetry chapbooks, including most recently Half-Life and Other Poems from Ronin Press.

sickle by Ross Vassilev

the missionary who rang my doorbell
this morning
looked like a normal person
but then he started talking

he's only a small part
of the greater insanity:

the slasher movies
the homeless
the troops fighting overseas
for who knows what

growing up in America
in the 80s
watching family sitcoms
and Angel Heart
it's a wonder I can think at all

maybe that's why I'm unemployed
and listen to punk rock

maybe that's why I'm writing this poem.

flattered by Justin Hyde

fool or sage

we're all whores
for the
compliment.

it’s opium
in the
mechanism

a dab
of vivid yellow
through center

as

irretrievable
bits of soul
evaporate
through your asshole
like an old car
burning oil.