Endless Knot

    by Beth Duncan

An ancient stone bridge,
pitted in places yet smooth
where feet have worn a path,
spans a silver-grey twist
of river running away to sea.

As the acorn falls, it springs
into great power, spreads
leaves like splayed fingers.
Just so, pudgy infant palms
grow to hold a baby, then turn
to wrinkled parchment; 
buds bloom into scented
lilac, golden daisies, later
blowing feather soft wishes 
into shards of September air.

Meanwhile, the bridge goes on
crossing from one side to
the other and back again,
keeping secret its knowledge 
of which end is the beginning.


Bio: Beth Duncan has an MA in writing from the Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. She has published poems in The Best of Spiritual Writing (2016) and The Green Silk Journal (Spring 2018). She lives in Frederick, MD with two hell-raising cats.

 

 

Park Dirge

  by Gary Beck

 

Yesterday I fed two catbirds

 

in Bryant Park,

 

a lovely vest pocket venue

 

with wonderful amenities

 

for locals and tourists,

 

not too kind to birds,

 

except pigeons and sparrows,

 

hardier then other birds

 

dwelling in cities.

 

Yet we do not know

 

how many perish

 

in this lovely park

 

in the battle for survival,

 

since we never see their bodies,

 

while people are playing chess,

 

practicing yoga, eating outdoors,

 

enjoying the diversions

 

that conceal the life and death struggle

 

of birds that cannot compete

 

with more aggressive birds,

 

dooming the catbirds,

 

too urbanized to migrate.

 

Bio: Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director. His poetry collections include :Days of Destruction (Skive Press), Expectations (Rogue Scholars Press), Dawn in Cities, Assault on Nature, Songs of a Clerk, Civilized Ways, Displays, Perceptions, Fault Lines, Tremors, Perturbations, Rude Awakenings and The Remission of Order (Winter Goose Publishing). Conditioned Response (Nazar Look), Virtual Living (Thurston Howl Publications), Blossoms of Decay, Expectations and Blunt Force (Wordcatcher Publishing). His  novels include Flawed Connections (Black Rose Writing), Call to Valor and Crumbling Ramparts (Gnome on Pig Productions), Sudden Conflicts (Lillicat Publishers). Acts of Defiance  (Wordcatcher Publishing). His short story collections include A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications), Now I Accuse and other stories (Winter Goose Publishing) and Dogs Don’t Send Flowers and other stories (Wordcatcher Publishing). The Republic of Dreams and other essays (Gnome on Pig Productions). Feast or Famine and other one act-plays will be published by Wordcatcher Publishing. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in hundreds of magazines. He lives in New York City.

 

 

* wild from the cold each splash

   by Simon  Perchik

 

Wild from the cold each splash

is already driftwood

and though you lean into the sink

 

a single cup anchors on its own

needs to stay in the center

the way every statue is filled

 

with stones, smells from flowers

and your chest  held close, naked

for stars to scatter what’s left

 

and the afternoon –petal by petal

you pour from a night

longing to cover your body

 

as a single shell, around and around

with nothing inside but the ending

always in the same place.

 

Bio: Simon Perchik is an attorney whose poems have appeared in Partisan Review, Forge, Poetry, Osiris, The New Yorker and elsewhere. His most recent collection is The Giibson Poems published by Cholla Needles, 2019. For more information including free e-books and his essay “Magic, Illusion and Other Realities” please visit his website at www.simonperchik.com.

 

 

Kick the Cat

     by Katherine Inez Davis

 

A fan will switch on

for the breeze needed

on this winter night

blankets will toss back

one then another

a spouse will be pushed away

while bare arms fling

off the side of the bed

water on the nightstand will be sipped

to wash away the sour linger

of root oils downed after dinner

and even as flames rise

inside these flashing hot limbs

I still will not

kick a faithful cat

off my burning legs.

 

Bio:  Katherine Inez Davis has spent two decades writing for non-profit advancement and crafting feature articles. Her fiction and creative non-fiction were accepted for publication in Step Left and Line Zero literary magazines. From her home in northeastern PA, she is now at work on a series of place-based essays and a poetry collection. www.katherineinezdavis.com