Bryan Rickert

exhuming the body 
it meets us
half way

— Bryan Rickert

Tuyet Van Do

ticking in the kitchen
the oven timer starts 
by itself

— Tuyet Van Do

Kelly Sargent

blood on her palate —
drawing 
one last breath

— Kelly Sargent

even though

I said no

whentheriverrunsstill

— Kelly Sargent

Randy Brooks

harvest moon
starlings deadhead
the scarecrow

— Randy Brooks

Jackie Chou

childhood basement 
a wood-eyed puppet says
would I, would I?

— Jackie Chou

blood moon

autocorrect wants me

to eat fried children

— Jackie Chou

Thomas Zimmerman

dead lover’s scent
a spider
on the pillow’s cooler side

— Thomas Zimmerman

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

abandoned house
my bones under
the loose board

— David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Patricia Hawkhead

creeping darkness
the taxi driver knows
a different route

— Patricia Hawkhead

Greg Schwartz

crawling
under her skin
spider veins

— Greg Schwartz

streetlight

the darkness

in her eyes

— Greg Schwartz

Lorraine A Padden

lopper handles
a darker shade
of red

— Lorraine A Padden

John H. Dromey

the tomb of the unknown stunt double

— John H. Dromey

Roberta Beach Jacobson

teacher’s eyes
missing her
pupils

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Kelly Moyer

evensong
the pendulum swings
into stillness

— Kelly Moyer

starless night

a glint

from the raven’s gold tooth

— Kelly Moyer

John Hawkhead

hagfish on the corpse
a vampire squid casts a cloud
over the dead zone

— John Hawkhead

hearing a bone flute

along the procession way

the undertaker’s tread

— John Hawkhead

Bryan Rickert

river fog
the dead boy we thought
was driftwood

— Bryan Rickert

her lifeless face

a red leaf

stuck to it

— Bryan Rickert

Jerome Berglund

tongue louse
the dwarf and giant
stick together

— Jerome Berglund

Scott Wiggerman

ghost dance

the resonance
of light steps

— Scott Wiggerman

fresh green

rises from a dead patch

unmarked grave

— Scott Wiggerman

Bonnie J Scherer

cemetery walk –
cherry blossom petals 
laid to rest 

— Bonnie J Scherer

dusty dresser –

my ashes

resurface

— Bonnie J Scherer

Debbie Strange

seiche effect
the missing man bobs
back and forth

— Debbie Strange

border patrol

a hank of hair caught

on barbed wire

— Debbie Strange

Mark Gilbert

beneath the boardwalk
an open-mouthed expression
in the murk

— Mark Gilbert