Cathedral Janitor by Arvilla Fee

Ralph

Cathedral Janitor

the only sound

in the stained-glass stillness

is the swish swish of my broom

but this is what I love—

the coolness of ancient walls

the way the organ glistens

in streams of morning sun

i see a small movement

out of the corner of my eye

i know it’s him, come to see

come to beg a bite of cheese

and God help me, I do feed,

adoring the quiver of whiskers

tiny hands clasped together

i should report the rodent

but i don’t have the heart—

not when his sweet face

implores me to see him

as a member of this place;

he requires nothing but a nibble and promises to pray for me.

© Arvilla Fee

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Arvilla Fee

Arvilla Fee, from Dayton, Ohio, has been published in numerous presses, and her poetry books, The Human Side, This is Life, and Mosaic: A Million Little Pieces are available on Amazon. Arvilla’s life advice: Never travel without snacks. To learn more, visit her website and her new magazine: https://soulpoetry7.com/

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Ten Thousand Dreams by Mike Turner

Serinus

Ten Thousand Dreams

I wake from these ten thousand dreams

Of sailing ships and flying wings

Of storm-tossed seas and sandy shores

Tonight to sleep and dream some more

To mountain heights and canyon depths

Ten thousand lives, ten thousand deaths

Of setting sun and morning light

To dream another dream tonight

Awake, asleep, each cycle new

Some black and white, some brightly hued

Some in the past, some present day

Some set in futures far away

And as each dawning page is turned

I now reflect on what I’ve learned

That nothing’s really as it seems

All this life’s just 

Ten thousand dreams

Author's Note: This poem was inspired by Yongbo Ma’s “Retrospect”, which FEED THE HOLY published on March 14, 2026. I read the first line (“I seem to wake from a thousand dreams”), and “Ten Thousand Dreams” immediately came to me,  pretty much fully formed. It was only later that I read the rest of Youngbo’s poem. So I am indebted to Yongbo and FEED THE HOLY for the inspiration. 

© Mike Turner

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Mike Turner

Mike Turner was named 2025 Poet of the Year by the Alabama State Poetry Society. He has more than 475 poems published in over 100 curated journals and anthologies. Mike’s poetry collection, Visions and Memories (Sweetycat Press, 2021), is available on Amazon.

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Catch a Falling Leaf by Todd Matson

Beyzanur K

Catch a Falling Leaf

Dad sat like a potted plant

in his old, threadbare chair

while mom watered dad,

sprinkled him with food.

The little girl went without.

Mom replaced the old chair

with a new one. Dad planted

himself at the kitchen table

for three days, sat in silence.

The little girl went without.

Mom finally replaced the

new chair with the old one.

Dad transplanted himself

back in his old, ragged chair.

The little girl went without.

Hungry, thirsty, and wilting

away amidst the greenhouse

gases she lived in, the little

girl spent her time outside

under the shade of a tree.

In the cool of autumn, she

invented a game. If I catch a

falling leaf, a friend will play

with me. You don’t have to

believe in magic to believe.

The tree released every leaf

on its branches to the little

girl. Just ask her friends,

as many as the leaves she

snatched from the breeze.

© Todd Matson

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Todd Matson

Todd Matson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in North Carolina, United States.  His poetry has been published in Salvation South, Agape Review, San Antonio Review, The Brussels Review, and featured in Poetry for Mental Health.  He has also written lyrics for songs recorded by several contemporary Christian music artists.

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Polishing the Car In October by David Henson

Sergej

Polishing the Car In October 

Back aching,

hand numb

and gooey,

hood and two

fenders yet 

to go,

I stand 

and take 

a break 

-- admire 

the rusty 

leaves. 

© David Henson

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David Henson

David Henson and his wife reside in Illinois, USA. His work has been nominated for multiple Pushcart prizes and has appeared in various journals, including Feed the Holy and Best Microfictions 2025. His X handle is @annalou8. His website is http://writings217.wordpress.com

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Huntington's Disease by William Ogden Haynes

Kindel Media

Huntington’s Disease

His father passed on something that wasn’t

in his will. No lawyer was needed to clarify

things, just a doctor who said if one parent 

has it, each child has a fifty-percent chance 

of inheriting the gene. And if you inherit it,

you will develop the disease. The doctor is

like a weatherman predicting storm percentages. 

It’s a case of genetics carrying with it both 

history and prophecy, a lineage of doom 

coiled inside a cell, a chromosome with the 

wrong address, an unwanted gift from his 

ancestors. And now he lives with this biological 

time bomb, feeling time is precious, since 

he knows the end of the story before finishing 

the book. But everyone knows the outcome 

of the story because we all die. What’s different 

for him is that genetics has passed down the  importance of savoring every single page. 

© William Ogden Haynes

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William Ogden Haynes

William Ogden Haynes is a poet and author of short fiction from Alabama, born in Michigan. He has published several collections of poetry, and many of his poems and short stories have appeared in literary journals and anthologies. http://www.williamogdenhaynes.com

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Harvest by Daniel Skach-Mills

Pawan Yadav

Harvest

Crooked bones, crooked branches

Mrs. Yee cares for her persimmon tree 

like family,

works the soil of another year 

with Dao, prayer—

whatever keeps the crepe-paper dragon’s

torn-and-taped accordion vertebrae 

stretching across her window

Centuries, ancestors,

hers is but a blink in the steady gaze of generations,

a brief breath, inhaling petrichor’s instructions:

mulching, loam grows rich,

watering, roots go deep,

pruning, space appears 

between thoughts

Come autumn, fruit plumps—

round Laughing Buddha bellies 

on the branches 

Ash powders the red-and-gold joss pot

burning sandalwood outside her door

Overnight, a FOR SALE sign 

stakes its claim in her yard

Realtors report American home buyers 

want new houses that look old:

mantels, railings, floors 

Contractors complain they can’t find 

enough qualified artisans to carve, 

fire, and paint the thin veneer 

of a hundred years 

into the tile, wood and walls 

of a ninety-day construction job:

a look that’s aged and distressed,

provided, we don’t have to wait too long

Provided, it’s not our faces—

Next door, Mrs.Yee pulls out her ladder,

positions it under the tree, 

climbs rung by rung 

like incense into the air, 

another year behind her, going up in smoke 

Neighbors roll their eyes, shake their heads:

persimmons, three for a dollar at the market! 

The rickety stepladder they’re sure will be her death!

So much to believe in 

that can’t be seen—

solace, shade, 

her husband’s ashes 

buried beneath the branches 

The love that keeps her reaching

to gently squeeze

more than half her lifetime

to feel if it is ripe

© Daniel Skach-Mills

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Daniel Skach-Mills

A 2026 Pushcart Prize nominee, Daniel Skach-Mills’s poetry is forthcoming in The Pensive Journal and Wild Roof Review. His book, The Hut Beneath the Pine: Tea Poems, was a 2012 Oregon Book Award finalist. A former Trappist monk, Daniel lives with his husband in Portland, Oregon, where he served for 15 years as a docent at Lan Su Chinese Garden. He was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer in 2024.

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Rain Haiku by Joshua St. Claire

Ali Ramazan Çiftçi

Rain Haiku

all day rain

now that I no longer know

you

raising their hands

to the rain

skeleton elms

a rain squall extinguishes

the cherry blossoms

                     …petrichor 

alone

in the circumference

of rain 

rain lash

seven pelicans

right into the storm 

scars

rains slashes

the window

storm over the Atlantic rains dissolve the horizon

acute angles

a southern gale blasts long mountain

with rain

bitter tea

sinking down

in all day rain

all there is rain on rain

© Joshua St. Claire

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Joshua St. Claire

Joshua St. Claire is an accountant from a small town in Pennsylvania, working as a financial director for a nonprofit. His haiku and related poetry have been published broadly, including in Frogpond, Modern Haiku, The Heron’s Nest, and Mayfly.

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