Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 Two Poems by Kelly Cass Falzone Trigger Warning Just seeing the word— the reach of that R A’s legs pulled open (a forearm to brace them) the vag at A’s upended v the stiff shaft of the P APE that he was that damn three-legged E see how A leans away from R’s cock- bully pose— hand thrust onto his hip the tip of the A– two wrists pinned at the apex— the punch of P’s fist in the chest and the eye the E ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 Mending by Millie Jackson Mending She abandons her paints, .......her brushes, .........the needles and tapestry… ...........lays down the spoon that mixed the batter. Her eyes exhausted .......from depression .........that follows mania. She explodes .........and melts ...........overandoverandoveragain   No one understands .......hushed whispers blame ...........“She’s at it again.” .......As if .........she can control .............what is happening .......in .........her ...........brain .............& ...............body. .......Sometimes .........she is locked away, ...........throw away the key. .........The house falls silent ...........Is there silence in the hospital? ...................No, never in the hospital. .........It is full of noisebustlewordspillsshockreatments. Drugs dull her .........quiet .............her creative vigor ...............muted .........she feels like death. And so .......she ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 A Greek Myth and a Long Illness by Veronica Ashenhurst A Greek Myth and a Long Illness Phaeton longed to drive the day, to steer Apollo’s sun-chariot through the sky. I might have warned him not to go, but he would have defied me. His fate quickened: the horses reeled, the coach plunged, with searing sun, to earth. To save the globe, Zeus pierced Phaeton with a thunderbolt, and tucked him in paradise, a constellation to his ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 Three Poems by Kelly Cass Falzone The First Sound Before I had a drum in my ear, before I had an ear even, I had sound that was no sound: a pulse through my heart when I was mostly only a heart, a slim of spine, and curled brow. I knew the slosh of slick liquid on my skin, that transparent sheath of almost only water. I knew the tumble of my heavy head-first, that buoyant seahorse bobbing-business, suspense. I knew ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 Two Poems by Jill McGrath After An Illness I have come back to life, and the heady joy won't leave me, an at-last at-last mingles with every bird's cry, the insects themselves parading and humming delight. I have the all of it, the sensuous bliss of it, body again body, free to move, delighting in the motion, mind unfogged to leap around an old jazzy thinking that flickers and enchants me. Spirit unchained, I emerge from all darkness, jump into this beautiful fire ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 Crossing the River Styx by Maureen Martinez Crossing the River Styx Can I talk to you for a minute? My student asks standing still as a tree in a snow globe forest framed by my glass office door with festive Christmas decorations backlit by hallway fluorescents. I don’t know how to say it. He says after seconds of silence, tears streaming fast, time slowing, eyes downcast as he contemplates the liminal space between us. Sit down, take a breath. ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 epitaphs and eulogies by Ajibike Lapite epitaphs and eulogies flowers belong on tombstones but I never found the courage to see yours: I bought three bouquets from CVS and I pulled out the twigs, the flowers who had forgotten to bloom, and the ones that did not deserve to be yours – I tossed them off the balcony without fanfare and trimmed  the stems  of those that remained   I have wondered if my posture is different when I am ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 I Need a Poem for Tomorrow by Jen Lailey I Need a Poem for Tomorrow I need a poem for tomorrow. The day my sister and I exchange writing. Sometimes, overflowing, I cram what I have to share into the parameters we have set. But today I have nothing. Sure, I could dip a ladle back in to depression soup, soggy tissues for garnish. Serve up the same old mess. But that’s been the menu for months now. It’s ...

Poetry Issue #15: Harmony October 15, 2024 Three Poems by Bobby Bradshaw Slipping Away I can no more slip into my car, pull out of our driveway and never come back any more than the moon can slip its tethers and drift away. Depression runs in my wife's family like banks along a river, the chance of being overwhelmed always there. She lists between clarity and paranoia. She sits all day on the edge of the sofa, iPhone in hand, watching videos. Her hearing nearly lost, sometimes I feel like an auctioneer always raising my ...