94
CIRQUE
M.C. MoHagani Magnetek
Falling Star, Make a Wish Gumbo In Memory of Colleen Wheeler Before the sun and the creek rises Up for auction highest bidder yet priceless Was that smile. That smile that illuminated With its own kind of brilliance fated To fall from the sky like a rampant asteroid Pummel the lackadaisical apathetic disregard That stood there and watched a falling star Disintegrate into dust below detectable radar Until sorrow thickens air like filé powder Burning browning roux butter and flour Slow cooking left behind hearts Boiling simmering tears for a soulful sweetheart. Punched
David Mampel
When all else fails A General Strike has been called at 2:18 p.m. for nobody but this pen, two chocolates, a cup of tea and a plastic folding chair I painted blue to match the fence behind my caretaker’s shack.
The chair, table, a protestor sitting with lumbar support, barefoot, surrounded by gopher dirt piles on City Light field, scattered peanut-shells, jet-feathered crows bopping heads on grass beneath trees and a jerking tail from a brown squirrel thief. Morning coffee comes back to me now, a victory cheer for this critter crowd. The strike’s been called off, an hour and ten, concessions made across the picket page, a bloodless negotiation, a livable wage.
ManHole Covers
Jill Johnson
Jill Johnson