Poetry Commons^™

Outsider's Shovel, Mark Taksa

Bryant Literary Review

An insider promises smoke will never

pollute the flag.

Young Tragic Heroines, Elaine Little

Bryant Literary Review

The letter was addressed to Diane, predictably misspelled. It was from a postal box in a town known only for its prison. When she saw the name, Ben Strickert, she tore it open.

Lachrimae, Allen Strous

Bryant Literary Review

The man whose tears are often,

out of nowhere

the open-up

breakdown,

The Wandering Buddha, Cate Gable

Bryant Literary Review

for chef Jimella Lucas

Entering the Bardo or another set

of bones, you cannot know

we mourn your knife skills,

Only Touch Is Impossible, So We Touch, John Sibley Williams

Bryant Literary Review

Silence enters us.

These once familiar faces go strange

over time.

Tiny Bills, Susan Johnson

Bryant Literary Review

Mist nets catch the fall migration,

catch my hands numb and slow as

The Book Of Bad Faith, Noel Sloboda

Bryant Literary Review

Back when Mom first swore

Dad rated an entire chapter

Learning From Her, Emily Madapusi Pera

Bryant Literary Review

A lot you could learn from her,

you thought.

Object Permanence, Jacob Nelson

Bryant Literary Review

When the sheet is pulled over

your father's face is still there,

his mustache, too, for you to tug.

Chicago - 1966, Michael Walls

Bryant Literary Review

I remember you well. Sidewalks were slush,

snow piled along the edges.

Another Gen-X Icon Dead, Ace Boggess

Bryant Literary Review

Why are we the waning crowd,

grayest cloud, shattered vase

that once held crocuses & hope?

Mastery, Ken Victor

Bryant Literary Review

And the experience of the failed

work is a prod to practice: think of

Constructing Border Quilts, Martha Brenckle

Bryant Literary Review

looking for justice with thread, pins, needle

and scissors, cutting shirts and dungarees abandoned

The Lariat, Marc Pietrzkowski

Bryant Literary Review

I want to wash the hands that guide me home

and smell the soap and the soil together.

Is It Alice, Amy Or Anne?, George Longenecker

Bryant Literary Review

Huddled with four other nameless people,

who sleep on cardboard and blankets,

in the entry of a garage alcove,

Leaning Into The Party, Stephen Roberts

Bryant Literary Review

I was having a good time at the party
until I leaned back on the door frame

Block Island Haiku, Fred Yannantuono

Bryant Literary Review

So many hatchbacks.

Eating The Whale, Mitch Lescarbeau

Bryant Literary Review

He brings the sizzling strip
on a bone china plate.

Ennis, Ruth Holzer

Bryant Literary Review

The dusty road to Ennis
rose up to meet me
like a blessing,

What's Going On, Ruth Holzer

Bryant Literary Review

I'm making my way through the stormy night,
a long road back, after I've left Father

Wildfire, Charles Laird Calia

Bryant Literary Review

For months there was no rain or very little, the mountain grasses were dry, prone to lightning strikes and wildfires, and Frank could see the river far from his little cabin, just beyond Federal land, drying up before his eyes.

Perseids, Deborah Fleming

Bryant Literary Review

Mid-August and the hemisphere
Now turns its head away from light;

Peasant Woman In Gascony, Deborah Fleming

Bryant Literary Review

1972

Under the shadow of the Pyrenees
In a field at the bottom of a hillside,

Heat Wave: November In Vermont, Mitch Lescarbeau

Bryant Literary Review

The world's askew:
there should be packed pads

My Date With The Scientist, Kristy Nielsen

Bryant Literary Review

He tells me even land has tides,
pulled like water by the moon.

What Is, Stephen Malin

Bryant Literary Review

It is what it is
unless of course
it isn't in which case

With A Phone Call To Heaven, Bill Hoadley

Bryant Literary Review

I wish I had a phone
that could talk straight to heaven.

Death Comes To The Office For Daniel Downer, Jennifer Companik

Bryant Literary Review

He might've dispatched one of his Angels to do it, but Death knew Daniel would resist, and his best Angel was on vacation, harvesting souls in Costa Rica for the next month, so Death resolved to take Daniel himself.

Space Storms, Sarah Thompson

Bryant Literary Review

You are the star
In the blackened sky

Lists, Michael Onofrey

Bryant Literary Review

Earl has begun the prep work for painting the "foyer" of Bob and Lisa Kob's house, "foyer" a term Bob had used.