Paralution

Life is absurd
In the world of spinning electrons and quantum states
Boredom reproduced with creativity
is a way to say who you are silently
Opens the new generasion
To allow human civilization to function under a masquerade of
              “normalcy”

Envy

Leave all the viridis madness
Green with envy like vegetables
Lift off, past the moon
wearin’ my truth
call me carpet
Why so serious

Unknown

This is where the childhood summer memories are
Fountain water splashed across the ground under my pink crocs
no longer runs

This is where winter strikes first
cold, but not quite alone

This is a place for the ones in red to rest til green
Strong against light, but weak against water

This is where predictions were made
might be slightly certain, as time drifts away

This is where all the burdens were to be unloaded
temporary, but hopeful
An oasis

This is where I believed in the beauty of unknown
turned out to be known, never to be re-unknown

Lauren Kim is a high school student with a fervent love for both poetry and visual art. Her work delves into the intricacies of identity, the nuances of nature, and the emotional currents of teenage life. Through her poems and mixed media artwork, Lauren seeks to capture and convey the beauty in moments of introspection and everyday experiences. When she’s not writing or creating art, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, reading contemporary poetry, and experimenting with new artistic techniques. Lauren’s work has been influenced by her diverse cultural background and her deep connection to the natural world. She aspires to continue growing as an artist and a writer, sharing her unique perspective with others.

A seamstress working from home in the 90s
I barely know this wall, so new
wood dust drifts to the ground with each
chatter from the machine on the other
side. I rub my hand on plywood,
rough like miners’ calloused fingers.

I creep through to that room at the back
of the garage, ironclad with cold,
daylight forcing through a window,
grazing only walls, cobwebs
and bags brimming with hosiery.

Gripping the door handle, I watch—
glasses on the bridge of her nose,
hands steady in fingerless gloves,
breath billowing like clouds of steam—
until her red-rimmed eyes meet mine.

Robert Cutillo is a writer who explores dysfunctional relationships, family, childhood, loss, grief, loneliness, bullying, power and work life. His short story Blacksticks blue was recently published at Literally Stories. Robert also recently completed his MA in Creative Writing at the University of Derby. In his dissertation, he explored the negative effects neoliberalism is having on charities and the people they support, drawing on his own experiences of having worked in the sector.

1961 – the wall has been built
once sixty-one stars glowed over the native land
the East Germany rife with butterflies sparkled in the night
the Western Germany full of west wood garlics glinted in the evening
the fall of the Berlin Wall was an indulgence
then shooting stars fell down
at the moonglow
the night reveals the policies
with the most amazing dreams
the dream about roses
from 1935
was killed forever
by the murkiness of comets
that never could be blazing fiercely
the night crawled
the German Bundestag was light-filled
by all kinds of lights of the new wizardry
thousands of laws are glistering
at the stars-shine
the myth of Germany
is an ancient legend
from the emperor Otto the Great
the history is a night rainbow
awakened in some dreameries
of a dazzling thinker
Hitler wants to be forgotten
forever and for sempiternity
of a night sorcery

(glister –glitter)

Paweł Markiewicz was born 1983 in Siemiatycze in Poland. He is poet who lives in Bielsk Podlaski and writes tender poems, haiku as well as long poems. Paweł has published his poetries in many magazines. He writes in English and German.

You can find more of Paweł’s work here on Ink Pantry.

Keep Tahoe Seductive

Fully vested in five years
At a gallop down the mother lode
Of sacredly androgynous momentum

This was the insistence of shown parenting
Procedures (thinking therefore ambling)
Toward receivership-shape dollops of blue

Sparring from the heart zone
To the prickly pear-shaped furry
Pet’s domestic best-kept

Sieve-through pours (thoracic left
In park) to capture the amen
Ities (teased) from scratch

Your back replenishing of pheromone
Mid-wintry seizures interruptive of
The palace breast inducing seepage

“Keep Tahoe Seductive”
Keep the backhoe busy
Keep tobacco dry

Your powder or mine
In Brackets

As You Were

“My modular home is your modular home,” said he
With tongue in checkered
Pastiche yielding triple
Flutings ribald as blond
Bomb bombast versus nocturne

Qualitative braggadocio mentions
Center selfhood
Where it hurts most
In a moving car
Far flung from captions overflown

The remedy proposed is merely welding
Sadness to the dome (“surely goodness”)
Imparting patterned walking
Patterned speech
And patter by itself

Hell’s briefings linger where we lurk
Awhile impeaching history for all its
Franking privilege unaccounted for
While unaccountably indifferent
To generally accepted practices

Remove vermouth from home base
While you’re at it, and revoke
The privileges afforded an untimely
Youth displaying comfort via back brace
In the dim moonlight of inner space

Sheila E. Murphy has books forthcoming from Lavender Ink Books, Unlikely Books, and Chax Press. Her most recent title is Permission to Relax (BlazeVOX, 2023). She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Wikipedia page Sheila Murphy.