House of Glass what in the name of a rose requires a respite from awesomeness and youth is the thing that nags like a disk on replay now and then the daylight of my skin. the first creases, almost invisible. then it gets thicker and deeper like killing ivy. the other day, I saw thisContinue reading “House of Glass and other poems by Ioana Cosma”
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Homecoming. a poem by Kabedoopong Piddo Ddibe’st
Homecoming And the lost crows return home: No more dead nights but dawn Of new old days brooding crows On spun arms of baobab brows Preaching spiced phrases of days bygone. And they’ve changed shapes: They have undergone plastic surgery And have become sane again For new tricks in the book of pain Yet haven’tContinue reading “Homecoming. a poem by Kabedoopong Piddo Ddibe’st”
Calendar Cubes. a poem by Joan Mazza
Calendar Cubes We sat together, two numbers facing out, changed each day on that doctor’s desk for years. Remove us from our slanted seat, note we were one of many freebies by a company who manufactures Norpramin® so doctors might write more prescriptions. We, like our siblings, remained on desks and bookshelves, listened to distraughtContinue reading “Calendar Cubes. a poem by Joan Mazza”
Inheritance and other poems by Elizabeth Cranford Garcia
Inheritance Age four maybe five she opens her mother’s jewelry box to star-fire dispersion, the strange mechanics of lobster claws, chain clasps bracelets broken-jawed, ropes of amber and jade, heavy fruit of gems, of grandmothers she never knew, bulky shanks of pewter, of silver pinked like the sky at dusk—all the ways light can beContinue reading “Inheritance and other poems by Elizabeth Cranford Garcia”
Lost Stranger and other poems by Colin Dardis
Lost Stranger Headphones and earring: a model of youth on one pushing into his fourth decade. Prides his hair, all teased spikes and shave grades, with extensive sideburns that defy his jawline. Perhaps that high-pitched giggle from down the alley is at his expense. He’ll never know, beer and ignorance. Muscle tone, I will giveContinue reading “Lost Stranger and other poems by Colin Dardis”
Eros. a poem by Olga Stein
EROS Angels and demons aren’t mere folklore and myth; Freud said they are signs of our unfulfilled yearnings. Stories of gods who are wanton or wrathful Recreate our frustrations and deep-seated longings— Discontents that puncture civilizational veneers, Shake the so-called foundations of millennial faiths, And rattle the shackles of psychic wraiths Who pattern and shapeContinue reading “Eros. a poem by Olga Stein”
My Heart. a poem by Nightingale Jennings
My Heart Hard heart, let me in, please don’t shut me out, I have no home, no family, no love, just you. What will become of me without your pulse? How can I sleep without the embers of your warmth. It is not I you seek to punish, dear heart, I have not betrayed orContinue reading “My Heart. a poem by Nightingale Jennings”
Poets Die. Poets Out of Service. poems by Michael Lee Johnson
Poets Die (V2) Why do poets die; linger in youth addicted to death. They create culture but so crippled. They seldom harm except themselves— why not let them live? Their only crime is words they shout them out in anger cry out loud, vulgar in private places like Indiana cornfields. In fall, poets stretch armsContinue reading “Poets Die. Poets Out of Service. poems by Michael Lee Johnson”
3 essays by Nina Kossman
WRITING PLAYS AND POEMS WHICH NO ONE NEEDS I had a student who fell totally in love with me or, rather, not so much with me as with what I had my students do during those fifty minutes they spent in my class. Usually, we would read a short play, each student playing the characterContinue reading “3 essays by Nina Kossman”
WordCity Literary Journal. April 2021. Issue 8
Letter from the Editor. Darcie Friesen Hossack There is not a particle of life that does not bear poetry within it. -Gustave Flaubert Like the spring wildflowers (which are still a month away where I live), this spring edition of WordCity is bursting with colour. One of the living things now making its way intoContinue reading “WordCity Literary Journal. April 2021. Issue 8”
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