Canary Hill… by Kanchan Chatterjee

 

Canary Hill

Standing atop
Can see
Tiny dots-

Homes, schools, lakes…

The thin dusty path
Dipping into the woods

Down south…

Distant misty hills

In the East

Behind which
The Sun
Lives!

 

Copyright © 2013 by Kanchan Chatterjee

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Carnivores… by Jesse Minkert

 

Carnivores

Our microscope shows us
the faces of those

who will devour us.

How many living beings
do we swallow
in each mouthful

of our vegan soup?

But what’s that lacy filament
growing on the mustard greens?
Let them cook in the compost heap
nor eat a hole in our gut.

 

Jesse Minkert lives in Seattle. He has written plays for theater and radio, short stories, novels, and poems. Wood Works Press published a letterpress collection of his microstories, Shortness of Breath & Other Symptoms, in 2008. His poetry appears in Paper Nautilus, Naugatuck River Review, Floating Bridge Review, and Harpur Palate.

Copyright © 2013 by Jesse Minkert

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

The Death of Reason… by Timothy Ogene

 

The Death of Reason

In one night, before midnight, he drank from
two deep wells
it was a night of harsh thirst
and dark desires
the youth in his aged bones raged in desire
reason took flight
blurring away from his reach

the animal below ruled the gray guy above

the city is not a desert
heads walked, hands touched
he spotted one, full and ready
a little hesitant, but reason was dead
the beast below brawled, pumped full with blood
rising and falling up and down
like sea waves. no control –

brain-beast disconnect

she appears, stripped of all that stands between
man and flesh
it was before midnight
before the sky was peopled with elements
of fear and flight
before the gates of pleasure shut
against the world, unleashing nightmares

on poor burning souls –

reason was dead
he walked on thorns and thistles
leaving footprints and bruises
in his old fragile conscience
reason returned with remorse biting at the core
ready to re-route the night
it was way past the tip of dawn

she was gone, the city was up –

 

Timothy Ogene was born and raised in Nigeria. His poems have appeared in literary kicks, Ovi Magazine, the Daily Observer, Haggard & Halloo, Underground Voices, How Matters’ Friday Poetry Pause, the 2010 Arvon International Poetry Competition Anthology, Writing Raw, Snake Skin and are forthcoming in Subtle Tea, The Earth Charter Global Oneness Book Project and other publications. He was shortlisted for the 2010 Arvon International Poetry Prize. He currently lives in Robertsport, Liberia where he works for an innovative social enterprise.

Copyright © 2012 by Timothy Ogene

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

#77: Americanski Corporat Inc… by K.C. Wilder

 

#77: Americanski Corporat Inc

—for megan, who sputters into a cell phone, “why do they hate us?”

 

sassy sissy richard sneasel
spit shine shoed financial weasel
in his dim bulb power tie

a squealing wide eyed frizzle fry

treading on their treadmills
suckered by ambition
automatons everyday

jockey for position

stultified suffocated
thanks to bonehead boss who stinks
getting pink slips for no reason

average workers on the brinks

jerking with unstoppable force
global warming at its source
generating nasty stink

americanski corporat inc

bulbous blithering sycophants
freshly ironed khaki pants
driving fast track ladder climbing fink
on his suicidal course

americanski corporat inc

sissy cel phone holding skank
cousin to the mountebank
manipulator social climber

blithering booblike nickel-and-dimer

honest people sucked into
the system cheating anyhow
honesty is not the point

to anybody now

polo shirts passels of them
jerks without attention spans
scarfing down turbercular

ptomaine poisoned food & drink

polar ices busting up
animals theyre all extinct
precious few insightful souls
hard to find someone who thinks
to stem the tide of toxifried
americanski corporat inc

 

In Joan Miro-like fashion, K.C. Wilder taps the collective unconscious and sculpts a stylized pop vernacular. The end result is painterly, layering pop with a brightly colored, surreal casing. This distinctive style Wilder calls “fauxbrow.” Wilder has taught writing at the State University of New York. He’s toured the U.S. and performed his poetry and music in over 30 cities nationwide, accompanied by his own guitar. www.kcwilder.com

Copyright © 2012 by K.C. Wilder