Poetry Commons^™

Things Pulled Off Refrigerator Doors, Charles Harper Webb

Bryant Literary Review

That's me in Maui, underneath a tire-sized hat,

pointing surfward as if I've just invented

waves. There's Katie wincing on a fern-

draped ledge, splashed by a mile-high

waterfall.

After Hearing There Are Only 7,000 Stars Visible To The Naked Eye, Charles Rafferty

Bryant Literary Review

With its better eyes, does the housecat

cry beneath the majesty

of 70,000 stars?

The Reverend Henry Evers Has Been Conducting A Lot Of Funerals Lately., Michael Scott Cain

Bryant Literary Review

The old men are quietly dying.

Each day fewer go to the park

or the Paradise Tavern. The aisles

of the malls are less crowded.

Dawn Camping, Steven Proulx

Bryant Literary Review

Night slithers off into the horizon

a canvas of ancient pastels in its wake

air is virgin

ground marks no tread

Workout, Dave Evans

Bryant Literary Review

From my lofty indoor bike seat,

facing a bay window, I see a real fly

caught in a metaphorical Lake Michigan

Same Old, Mary Crow

Bryant Literary Review

The same old story is different with each

re-telling. What did mother say? One of the sisters asserts her truth to the other's

incredulity-- someone has to be right.

My Grandmother's Slops Bucket, David Thornbrugh

Bryant Literary Review

My grandmother kept a slops bucket

behind a curtain of blue-flowered calico cloth

tacked over the bottom shelf in her kitchen pantry,

Owl, Joe Survant

Bryant Literary Review

The owl glides in

on secret wings,

silent as a leaf flush.

He knows the quick

motives of chipmunks,

the intimacy of mice.

Homage To Montale, Baron Wormser

Bryant Literary Review

This morning

The hummingbird's

Pure zigzag

Surprises you.

The indifference to

The long steps

Of your mood.

The Widow Of War, Jon Mccolgan

Bryant Literary Review

Before allure began to pour

out of her sore onto the floor

she stored the door to her heart's core

beneath the boards of her store's floor.

The Boys Of Night Winter, Paul Sohar

Bryant Literary Review

Their puffy winter jackets lifting their

faces high above the horizon

the boys troop in from the snow

The Hills Of Laura, Billy Lombardo

Bryant Literary Review

It is true that I hated Hucker Norton. But I did not mean to crush his thumb.

He wasn't one of us, really. Even his name told you he was from some other place. We were Petey and Tommy and Davy and Matty, and he was Hucker.

A Persistent Error, Dorinda Clifton

Bryant Literary Review

My-Hundred-Year-Old Window

I live on the second floor of an old building. One room, one window. Having only one window keeps me focused on the life I can see within its perimeter.

Touching My Reflection, Michele Heather Pollock

Bryant Literary Review

I peer into a mirror
of last night's rain

In A Field Near Sardis Dam, Louis Bourgeois

Bryant Literary Review

Silence. A scarecrow flickers in the wind.

The corn is dead. Geese speckle the horizon,

followed by crows and herons.

Dress Rehearsal For Utopia, Karen Donovan

Bryant Literary Review

We're glad they made Clear Falls.

The white rocks love the water,

the water loves its splash and brim.

The Wounded, Dave Cappella

Bryant Literary Review

The one-legged pigeon understands

the loneliness of the man.

Hobbling under the patio table

behind a chair, the bird waits

for a morsel from the stranger.

The Snow Moon, Rebecca Lilly

Bryant Literary Review

A full moon sheared the tip of a pine. Lying in bed, a woodsman and

his wife saw it one December night. "Something must be done," said

his wife. "I know it's a sign."

Contributors

Bryant Literary Review

No abstract provided.

In Oxford Cemetery, Louis Bourgeois

Bryant Literary Review

You thought because

the trees moved

and the stones didn't

What Isn't Anchored, Mark Brazaitis

Bryant Literary Review

I confessed I was drifting from you.

Days later, your hand in mine,

you reminded me, in hopeful mockery,

of what I'd said.

When The Music Stops, Tony Leuzzi

Bryant Literary Review

The sequined queen of sass says not on your life

"Prefer Slick, Feverish Grooves Over Funky Backbeats", Ace Boggess

Bryant Literary Review

blessed rock'n'roll R & B funk folk acid jazz

Kindergarten, Lisa Zimmerman

Bryant Literary Review

It's hard to know

how much they love their children,

these mothers and fathers

Arabia, Jeffrey David Peckham

Bryant Literary Review

Although he feels just fine, Neil still takes the morning off and keeps his appointment.

Contributors

Bryant Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Look Now, Charlotte Mandel

Bryant Literary Review

Bronze oak leaves like cupped hands

offer rainwater

Explanation, Peter Johnson

Bryant Literary Review

What should I tell you? That it rained for five straight days, that the gutters leaked in spite of the duct tape,that a rat ate through the cellar screen and killed the cat.

The Present, Fred Muratori

Bryant Literary Review

It's taken all our lives to get here,

and the consciousness of that

is like a pause. But we

The @'S Of Your %'S, Ken Fifer

Bryant Literary Review

The : )'s in my e-mail remind me how

our actual lives are also composed

of punctuation, and of punctuation's