Debbie Strange

a grizzly bear in the ditch headless dandelions

— Debbie Strange

C.X.Turner

returning
to the bubbling cauldron
teeth glisten

— C.X.Turner

petro c. k.

final notice
among the clutter
a few drops of blood

— petro c. k.

Leon Tefft

wardrobe attire

wondering which suit

I’ll be buried in

— Leon Tefft

Roberta Beach Jacobson

from the casket
a neatly-trimmed beard
waves to mourners

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Vishal Prabhu

hopping

a shorter way home

pond corpse

— Vishal Prabhu

Tracy Davidson

lingering cries 
from the cobwebbed crib 
plump baby rats 

— Tracy Davidson

Jacek Wilkos

date night
a silk scarf around her neck
to hide the slit throat

— Jacek Wilkos

traveling through a ghost town - dead end

— Jacek Wilkos

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

hair-brained scream
that awful head
begins to turn

— David C. Kopaska-Merkel

the first time

I laid eyes on the griddle

you stared up at me

— David C. Kopaska-Merkel

John Hawkhead

buried alive 
the cold release of breath
from an opened grave

— John Hawkhead

Kelly Moyer

backcountry shelter
a hint of crimson
hangs in the gossamer

— Kelly Moyer

short-listed

i locate my name

in the book of the dead

— Kelly Moyer

Joana Figueiredo

smiling brightly 
the other woman
wears my face

— Joana Figueiredo

Mark Gilbert

scratchings in the ceiling
a bad smell
in the spare room

— Mark Gilbert

Bryan Rickert

zombie wedding the corpse flowers

— Bryan Rickert

Jerome Berglund

always the car 
you flag down for help
anglerfish

— Jerome Berglund

Robin Smith

cemetery over the commentary

— Robin Smith

beneath the hell is real sign my name

— Robin Smith

Chad Lee Robinson

mushrooms a small door

— Chad Lee Robinson

scalpel

the trembling

of the violins

— Chad Lee Robinson