C.X.Turner

cellar steps
dust remembers
every fall

— C.X.Turner

Mark Gilbert

heads
in a field
no longer in rows

— Mark Gilbert

John Hawkhead

early death
the widow
lifts the veil

— John Hawkhead

another slow night

deciding what I should wear

to my funeral

— John Hawkhead

Amber Winter

walking home 
I can feel the eyes 
corn stalks  

— Amber Winter

a roll in the hay

her anaphylaxis comes

before he does

— Amber Winter

Violet Avery Hall

hurricane season
new surf surveillance pointed
in every house window

— Violet Avery Hall

record heat

thousands of fish

dead on the shore

— Violet Avery Hall

Debbie Strange

buried alive
snakes uncoil
from my hair

— Debbie Strange

Bryan Rickert

dark outhouse
the sudden grasp
from below

— Bryan Rickert

Hifsa Ashraf

bhoot bangla—
rusty hatches echo
the jinn’s yawn 

— Hifsa Ashraf

graveyard fog—

twisting around a bare oak

the churail’s hair

— Hifsa Ashraf

Patrick G. Roland

church bells
the gravedigger hums
off key

— Patrick G. Roland

drill song

drowning out

the patient’s scream

— Patrick G. Roland

Kimberly Kuchar

even in death
there’s something on her mind
wriggling maggots

— Kimberly Kuchar

Grace Mckie

gentle ding
from the elevator 
coffin drop

— Grace Mckie

Roberta Beach Jacobson

draped in faux fur cloakroom ghost

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Jerome Berglund

dust devil 
blood smear over 
the urinal 

— Jerome Berglund

Roberta Beach Jacobson

death bed
I fluff the pillows
for someone else

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

ants

trampled by bison

prairie song

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Vishal Prabhu

eye sockets
the crow peers
on the inside

— Vishal Prabhu

moth wings

parting and shutting

the night

— Vishal Prabhu

John Hawkhead

comedian’s wake 
the casket lid closes
to canned laughter

— John Hawkhead

Rowan Beckett Minor

college town
the hitchhiking student
no one else sees

— Rowan Beckett Minor

white sage

the mummified cat’s

open mouth

— Rowan Beckett Minor

Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

puzzle the sharp-hooked talons open

— Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

John Hawkhead

spiralling snowflakes
that never quite settle
a small white coffin

— John Hawkhead

Alper Ghuchlu

cornfield at night
the rustling noises
come to a stop

— Alper Ghuchlu

Tony Williams

now the rot has begun        
                          a quietness                      
                                        in me

— Tony Williams

whistling down alleys

the wind

fetches rats

— Tony Williams

Ron Nhim

church cemetery—
the crows eulogize
what’s still breathing

— Ron Nhim

harvest moon—

the wind strips

the scarecrow’s secrets

— Ron Nhim

John Hawkhead

many shades of dark 
a song of desolation
fills the crow’s fable

— John Hawkhead

dead on time

he let the grass grow

over his feet

— John Hawkhead

Tracy Davidson

dead romantic 
her late husband 
nibbles on more than her neck 

— Tracy Davidson

John Hawkhead

coming out
of his shell
a skeleton

— John Hawkhead

Jenn Ryan-Jauregui

uninvited guest
growing louder — the knock
in my knees

— Jenn Ryan-Jauregui

far off stare

the lighthouse keeper’s

fatal slip

— Jenn Ryan-Jauregui

Randy Brooks

water snake
giving up the ghost
tongue lashing

— Randy Brooks

Roberta Beach Jacobson

a block from the cemetery
. . . blood drips
into the crankshaft

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Kelly Sargent

root bound peace lily
the fear of letting go
of the fear

— Kelly Sargent

insomnia poems

adding to the narrative

of my shadow self

— Kelly Sargent

Nicholas Klacsanzky

nameless dead . . .
the fireweed’s color
coming in 

— Nicholas Klacsanzky

Joshua St. Claire

a drop of blood
in the corner of her mouth 
apple blossoms

— Joshua St. Claire

3:00AM

the brown widow slowly

into my mouth

— Joshua St. Claire

Melissa Dennison

amongst headstones
the rowan tree
drips with red

— Melissa Dennison