Salvation by Toyer Fahie

 

Artem Podrez

SALVATION 

All of us kneel

Needing grace 

The grains of sand 

Burn our knees

While we wait for pardon

We do not look alike 

Our needs differ

Yet we come together 

Searching for salvation

As we encircle the same cross

A cross that sees no colour

A cross that knows no creed

A cross which represents hope

So, as we lament from our breast

While we face the harshness of the sun

We will kneel

We will wait 

For redemption

© Toyer Fahie

Toyer Fahie

Toyer Fahie was born and raised in the Virgin Islands. Toyer began writing poems in her mid-teens. Her favorite type of poem to write is free verse —she writes directly from her heart. Toyer has entered local poetry competitions, which yielded winnings. She currently writes for several online journals.

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Piano Lesson by Carol Barrett

 

Pavel Danilyuk

Piano Lesson

Music never failed to move my father

who would lift his baritone and hold

a note until breath was out, and sound,

a memory of notes he took in hand

to show his love of life, his care

for all of us who touched his heart.

He urged me to let my heart

dictate the piano score. My father

would sing the lines to show his care

for how a simple melody could hold

joy or sorrow in the same hand,

could make of notes an angelic sound.

For him there was nothing so sound

as a phrase spun by the heart.

The upright shook in my hands

as I leaned with the song. My father

would listen as I practiced, holding

his face uplifted with gentle care.

And as I played, Beethoven’s careful

lineage of notes rang out. The sound

of love in triumph would hold

me transfixed on bench, my heart

in fullness, grateful to my father

who showed the way to glory’s hand.

There’s always a chord to take in hand

to echo the true musician’s care

for what passes understanding. My father

would yield his voice to the sound

of truth, of life, of love. The heart

must sing to release its treasured hold.

© Carol Barrett

 

Carol Barrett

Carol Barrett began writing poetry to support the widowed women she was counseling. Her most recent book is READING WIND. Currently living in Oregon, Carol supervises creative dissertations for students at two universities.

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REVEALING By Danica Milić

Photo Art © Carl Scharwath

REVEALING

How can I not thank
Life for having you now?
How can I not think of you
if you are the owner of my mind?
How can I forgive time for not
allowing me to discover you before?
How can I not understand that
the past is the same present?
How could I know that you were hiding
behind a star and this universe
had not revealed your shadow yet?

Blue universe where I shine
because you give me your light,
deep universe as deep as your love...
How can I not reveal myself to you,
if you are me and I am you?
With your love you do magic
from nothing and nothing
becomes everything
in your presence!

© Danica Cvieta Milić

Danica Cvieta Milić

Danica Cvieta Milić is a Dutch-Peruvian poet born in Lima, Peru, to a Croatian family. She has lived and worked in various countries. Her experiences have shaped her perspective and inspired her writing, which she crafts in English and Spanish.

A bilingual poet, Danica has been recognized for her cultural work, receiving the World Prize for Cultural Excellence from the Hispanic World Union of Writers (UHE) in 2016 and 2017. 

At the core of her work is the belief that "understanding how passion transmits emotion to the senses is related to the constant flow of universal energy that is part of life." Her poetry and writings aim to capture the essence of the senses, inviting readers on a journey through the magical world of literature.

She is currently working on her first poetry book.

Carl Scharwath

Carl Scharwath has appeared in 175+ journals worldwide, selecting his writing or art for publication. Carl has published four books of poetry and photography. He was nominated for four Best of the Net Awards (2022-25) and two different 2023 Pushcart Nominations for poetry and a short story.

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What No Longer Works? by Amrita Skye Blaine

 

Eva Bronzini

What No Longer Works? 

Why keep it? Send

It’s on its way

that thought, trinket

white elephant

Especially thoughts

Mean-spirited,

chuck it. Smoother,

softer ones will come

If they don’t, ditch

those, too.

No space for rude,

unfriendly,

that bucket’s filled

overflowing

flooding

© Amrita Skye Blaine

Amrita Skye Blaine

Amrita Skye Blaine develops themes of aging, disability, and awakening. She received a PocketMFA in poetry in 2024. She has published a memoir and a three-novel trilogy, and her work has appeared in fourteen poetry anthologies and numerous literary magazines. Two poetry collections, every riven thing and strange grace, were released in Spring 2025.  

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You think you live alone by Michael Braswell

 

RDNE Stock project

You think you live alone

You think you live alone

But you don’t

You live in one house

with many rooms

Open the door

Walk outside

See who lives next door

© Michael Braswell

Michael Braswell

Michael Braswell has published books on ethics, justice issues, and the spiritual journey, as well as four short story collections. His poems and stories have appeared in several publications, including Foreshadow, Mobius, and Literary Heist. His most recent books are When Jesus Came to the Cracker Barrel (2024) and Gracious Plenty (2025).

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First Night by Laura Rodley

 

Cup of Couple

First Night

Oxygen whistling, pumping moist air

to a cup clasped over my husband’s mouth,

monitors beeping, flashing his vital signs,

an IV taped to his wrist slowly pumping saline

into his veins, in a private room on

the critical cardiac care unit,

one nurse to every two patients.

Just this noon, surgeons inserted

a stent to open his blocked

left descending artery, a heart attack

often referred to as a widow-maker.

It’s two in the morning, and I’m holding

an emesis basin below his mouth

as he retches. The night nurse, Nancy,

enters, says, “The doctor left an order

for an anti-emetic, but let’s see

how he does. His body is adjusting

to the medicine, and the after-

affects of anesthesia.” She goes out,

returns with a heated half-blanket

that she lays down over him,

covering his waist to feet.

“He’ll love that,” I say. I must have sighed

because she offers, “I can get you one.”

“Really? Yes, please.” She returns

with a heated blanket, wraps it around

my shoulders, sets the blanket in place

as she squeezes my shoulders from behind

as my hands are full, holding the basin.

“Thank you,” I say, “All better now.”

She leaves to attend to her other patient.

© Laura Rodley

Laura Rodley

Pushcart Prize winner Laura Rodley's latest books are Turn Left at Normal by Big Table Press, Counter Point by Prolific Press, and Ribbons and Moths Poems for Children, winner of the Children's Nonfiction International Book Award and medalist for the Moonbeam Book Award for Children's Poetry. 

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You See the Familiar Dead by Yongbo Ma

cottonbro studio

You See the Familiar Dead

You see a familiar dead man

on the crowded subway, dressed in red,

sitting heavily, leaning forward slightly,

as if apologetic for crowding into the next seat.

You catch sight of him through tangled limbs,

your eyes meet, then drift apart,

as if strangers catching each other’s gaze.

You watch him bow his head in thought at times,

wearing a habitual weariness,

you wonder where he is bound for.

This subway heads toward eternal rest,

or a deeper river,

the carriage flickers dim and bright,

hissing with the sound of leaking air.

You know it is him,

you know he is in disguise,

look, he steals a glance at you again,

then quickly turns his eyes away,

pretending he has not recognized you at all.

© Yongbo Ma

Yongbo Ma

Ma Yongbo (Ma, Yongbo) is a Ph.D., representative of Chinese avant-garde poetry, and a leading scholar in Anglo-American poetry. He has published over 80 original works and translations since 1986, including 6 poetry collections. He focuses on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose, including the works of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams, and Ashbery. He recently published a complete translation of Moby Dick, which sold over half a million copies. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.

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Two Sides of a Glass by Kushal Poddar

Alexey Demidov

Two Sides of a Glass

The glass partition runs cold
on one side, and the sun and sweat
on the other. The pet shop cat
lifts its lucky paw at me and waves.
I have one more mile to dredge.

Right now my destination and
the person I'll meet are one.
One hawker of bubbles blows emptiness.
The cat almost waves at him, stops
and licks its paw. I have one more

sleep to stay awake through, walk past.
The blur runs the hum of the AC
on one side and the roadway racket
on the other. I sit on the shop's steps.
Right now one hand labours to push me up
and one presses down my knee.

© Kushal Poddar

Kushal Poddar

Kushal Poddar has authored ten books, the latest being A White Can For The Blind Lane, and his works have been translated into twelve languages. He is a co-editor for Outlook Magazine and the editor of Words Surfacing. He does illustrations and sketches for various magazines.

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A Grandmother’s Three-Step Rhubarb Pie Recipe by Michael Brockley

 

Valeria Boltneva

A Grandmother’s Three-Step Rhubarb Pie Recipe

1. Roll the pie crust and place it in a pie plate. 
2. Who walks beside you in your most curious dreams? 
3. What city from the archives of history would you like to visit next summer? 
4. Which token did you choose when you played Monopoly?
5. If you could create a national holiday, what or who would you celebrate? 
6. Mix into the pan two tablespoons of tapioca, one cup of sugar, and three cups of rhubarb picked fresh from your grandmother’s garden
7. What songs did you wear out on your first record player?
8. How many times do you let your phone ring before you answer it?
9. What sort of pet would you adopt if you were a private eye?
10. What kind of flower would you name after your grandmother? 
11. Bake the ingredients at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

© Michael Brockley

Michael Brockley

Michael Brockley is a retired school psychologist who lives in Muncie, Indiana. His prose poems have appeared in The Prose Poem, Doublespeak Mag, and Keeping the Flame Alive. In addition, Brockley's prose poems are forthcoming in Bay to Ocean Journal, Unlikely Stories Mark VI, and Stormwash: Environmental Poems, Volume II.

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