White Flag Raised by Corey D. Cook

 

 

My fourth chapbook, White Flag Raised, was recently released by Kattywompus Press and is available for purchase online (http://kattywompuspress.com/).

 

Sammy Greenspan (Editor of Kattywompus Press):

"Take a dash of married life with young kids, mix in a pinch of childhood memories and teen angst, and season with longing for your real life: Cook’s poems offer a humble and honest banquet of growing up, growing into one’s own skin, coming of age and coming out."



Perception: Summer by Bob Carlton

Light breeze:
cottonwood leaves
catch the light, twist
it into shadow.



Bob Carlton (www.bobcarlton3.weebly.com) lives and works in Leander, TX.

Brown Sofa by Sandy Benitez

Three sturdy bison
grazed on a patch of greenery
in otherwise yellow fields;
the distance between us
a chain-link fence
and a busy roadway.
A year ago,
I thought I saw
an oversized, furry brown sofa.
The lone bison didn't move,
it just lay there,
watching the world go by.
I thought of the homeless
who frequent Weston Park,
sleeping beneath the arbor
together
but always alone.



Sandy Benitez is the founding editor of Flutter Press, Poppy Road Review, and Black Poppy Review. Her latest chapbook, The Lilac City, was published by Origami Poems Project. Her first book, a YA paranormal fantasy novella titled, The Rosegiver, will be released later this month. Sandy resides in Southern California with her husband and two children.

Blue Couch by Sandy Benitez

Yesterday,
driving along familiar streets
of San Jacinto,
towards charter schools,
a sapphire blue couch
squatted in an empty parking lot.
It appeared disheveled
but otherwise in good condition.
Not much further down,
near an abandoned railroad track
a single, grungy sneaker
tossed aside like garbage.
Yet another loose thread
in the tattered fabric
of this forgotten town.



Sandy Benitez is the founding editor of Flutter Press, Poppy Road Review, and Black Poppy Review. Her latest chapbook, The Lilac City, was published by Origami Poems Project. Her first book, a YA paranormal fantasy novella titled, The Rosegiver, will be released later this month. Sandy resides in Southern California with her husband and two children.

The Shiver by Tom Montag

The shiver
of a winter
morning.

The light.
Birds at
the feeder.

My need
for one more
moment

like this.
Again, morning,
again.



Tom Montag, Fairwater, Wisconsin, is most recently the author of In This Place: Selected Poems 1982-2013. In 2015, he was the featured poet at Atticus Review (April) and Contemporary American Voices (August). Home-made music is important to him: he plays once a week with a friend, for their own amusement.

Angkor Wat by Tina Hacker

          A Temple Complex in Cambodia

Tourists see
a spiritual wonder,
marvel of architecture,
international treasure.

I see stairs.

A decay of branches
and logs that carried ancient
pilgrims closer to heaven
separate the present-day steps.

One flight up
one down.

Two sheer cliffs
of steep, wobbly planks.
The lower stairs, orphaned
of railings, the upper,
corded with them.

Lifelines of difficult labors.

Tourists lean
on partners and walking sticks,
mine their cache
of muscle memory
to balance as they inch
from the lower stairs
to those with the handrail.

They grasp it
as if it were the arm of God.



Tina Hacker is writing about her interesting experiences on a recent tour to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Her full-length poetry book, Listening to Night Whistles, published by Aldrich Press and her chapbook, Cutting It, published by The Lives You Touch Publications are available on Amazon. A four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she has work in a wide variety of journals.