MANDIRA PATTNAIK: Womb

Poetry, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

O mother!
I didn’t cry
coming into this world,
Came playing
in your womb!

Your breath
my cradle.
Womb—
crucible of life.

I nudged softly,
you felt me
under your bump—
Our
happy beginnings!

Where else does plurality
dwell so harmoniously?
Like distinct chromosomes
braided expertly,
exquisitely,
in mothers’ wombs!

Mandira Pattnaik writes in India. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Times of India, Eclectica Magazine, Lunate Fiction, Microfiction Monday, Fiftywordstories, Paragraph Planet, FewerThan500 and (Mac) ro (mic).

LUKE SWANSON: The Football

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Calamity. The world will never be the same.

I wipe sweat from my forehead. I have to tell everyone, but how will they take it?

Too late. The black eye of a camera glares at me, ready to listen. I clear my throat and square my shoulders.

“My fellow Americans…”

Luke Swanson is a fledgling author from Oklahoma City. He has a novel and a handful of short stories featured in anthologies from Limitless Publishing.

ROBERTA BEACH JACOBSON: Iowa Poets

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

Under the stars, Iowa poets dance
from stanza to stanza, barnyard to barnyard
all across the state
Have you not noticed them?

Let’s celebrate with the poets of Iowa
and sip herbal tea together in cornfields
as we share our secrets in verse
by the light of the harvest moon

Roberta Beach Jacobson admits to being one of these poets.

JOSHUA BENITEZ: Shower Thoughts

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Someone once told me a hot shower is like a mother’s womb.

Perhaps because you feel safe being vulnerable.

I wonder if I ever cried in my mother’s womb.

I like crying in the shower. It’s the solidarity I get knowing that something else can pour as much as me.

Joshua Benitez believes the best time for a shower is at night.

KENT OSWALD: Eternity Bytes

Amusing, Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , , , ,

Someone I care for passed away
But that isn’t true on social media today
Their birthday notice continues to lives on
Compelling “friends” to comment upon

So I learn the flesh may rot but we never really die
When we can still be liked in the digital by and by.

Kent Oswald writes, edits, walks the dog, and pedagogs in NYC. Additional words at kentoswald.com.

JUDI MacKENZIE: Maturity

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Words flowed: eloquent, impressive.
Everything perfect, until
a fly disappeared into her interviewer’s
man bun.

Wouldn’t be easy,
but she’d battled giggles before,
and won.

Two more entered the bun party.
She bit her lip.

Oblivious, he droned on.
“We’re all abuzz…” he said.

She heard no further.
Game over.

Judi MacKenzie is a writer who still wonders if that woman in the story got the job.

MARIA CARGILLE: Miss Maple

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Maple is flirting with me.

I glimpse her at windows as she ducks out of sight, catching only a swirl of scarlet skirts. She leaves little crimson-wrapped gifts outside my door.

I love her. I wish I knew that she loved me… but Miss Sugar Maple never says a word.

Maria speaks for the trees and, of course, those who love them.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: The Meaning of Life

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

We form a club, pondering the mysteries of life. Every Tuesday night at 7 PM.

We read books, attend conferences, question friends.

The bottom line is, we simply cannot concur on what we’re doing here.

We are, however, in agreement on one thing.

There must be pizza at every meeting.

Susan Gale Wickes is a writer from Indiana. She enjoys pizza and pondering the mysteries of life.

PETER LI-PING: Art Never Sleeps

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , ,

Starlight city nestling inland
Where Magic is humming
And Mystery glows
Interwoven between threaded crossed lines
At each end is a watcher
A tall figurine
Stop centrally now, take care with your step
Yes, just there, on that same pinprick where
Stand the Artists who painted
The wild silken road.

Peter Li-ping lives far from the Silk Road but it’s always with him.