Poetry

Umbrella by the Dumpster at Night

By Elena E. Johnson
O short-stringed kite of the underworld / O flightless black moth /   / O crumpled cage of the rainless / O question mark of the masses / O hustler at doorways...

Drive

By Jim Johnstone
No one will find us in this city — not your valentine, / not the line of dogs he’s chained by the throat. My collar / blooms chin-high, is perfumed with lilac where you...

London Plane

By Rhona McAdam
That plane tree caught my eye / when I first walked here. A maple, / the sellers said, wife streaming / with allergies each spring. But it was, / no, a plane...

When I Was Good, Still

By Mary di Michele
It was a time when I was good to all / the world, a time when all the world still called / me good. The smoke from Ide’s kitchen mounts /  ...

Rocks Grew in the Fields

By Tim Prior
rocks grew in the fields in the spring: / this was not a wonder; ice moving in earth / clenching and releasing them, pushed them / into the light over generations; /...

Playground

By Kerry Ryan
All those awkward years / you didn’t realize you were training: /   / Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack / clapped fast, fast, faster / to the recess bell /   /...

Sighting

By Vincent McGillivray
Rain eats the paper bag / she carries from the Chinese grocer, / bottom collapses, / strange plum-like fruit escapes, / little yellow suns rolling downhill / into the foggy harbour. /...

In My Heart Is Coltrane

By Julia Schroeder
In my heart is Coltrane, / precise addictions & / improvised optimism. / Our joy a lottery / anticipating / “The upswing in the industry.” /   / While fundraising / for...

Its Eyes Were Black

By Richard Crow
its eyes were black its beak was black and its feathers were black   .   it had been dead for a / long time and i thought that by now it must be black on...