Performed by Allan Michael Brunet

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Before I read Lorca
My words were blunt swords for
Slicing rotted wood
Constructing
Rackety trellises
To fortify
Pathetic castles of sand
Praying never the waves
Or even harsh winds
Ascend to my feeble heights
Where from above with disdain
Cupid mocked
My...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

Performed by Allan Michael Brunet

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Prayer of Loss

Oh, Lord, please take away my heart
and tear the foolish thing apart
and put it back again, I pray
so cold and hard that none
may find a way
to enter there again.

Excuse me, Sir, for this bold request
but I must have your very best....

Performed by Hannah Ehman

WILD HORSES, by Katrina Plumb

Hooves hurl havoc on heathland.
Manes and tails whirl with the wind.
Their wide nostrils snort
As the horses cavort
Plumed perfect as fishes are finned.

They rollick and roll in a whirlpool –
Palomino, pistachio, pink.
They fight with d...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

Wave by Debbie Fersht

A man holds a body of water at gunpoint. Roll over says the man from shore and the water does so. The man's toes get wet which makes him angry. He can't stand to be only partially wet so tells the water to lie still while walks in clothed until t...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

A Sleepless Reverie by Rebecca Wason

'Won't you stay a little longer?'

Sighed the moon to the night sky.

We have barely started our talk

And I have a thousand things to say

Of life and poppycock.

'Oh, but it is forbidden',

Replied the night to the moon.

We ...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

TRUST? No!, by Peter Borreggine

Forgiveth not, what comes thy way,
‘Tis but a speck, in the dawn of a day,
Thou must not begin to finally feel,
As if thy heart, is in a reel,

Thou pain, is wrought, deep inside I fear,
For to giveth its wrath, is not what I hear,
‘Tw...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

FRAGMENTS, by Donna Greenberg

I forgot how you tasted
The day your ship left my shore,
Only the rage of the waves
Reminds me.

I waited with arms wide-spread,
Legs tingling,
The imprint of your touch
Still longing…

Even the strong wind
That tore my heart
From my skin...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

Lessons of Imperfections, by Laleeta Tongo

When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was to write, write and give speeches about.
But then I turned thirty, and I wrote nothing but text messages flirty, and my hidden urge was also turning out.

I saw an ad in the newspaper...

ODE TO THE PRESIDENT, by Frank Vespe

He just turned legal, plays guitar, his craft.
An Aries like me, a Graduate student of math.
I taught him to dribble, now he beats me,
Swoosh! a three-pointer, from the top of the key.

I fear for my son.

Threescore ago, another Irishman won,
Escalated a co...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

Love your Curves, by Jesus T. Solis

Gives me the words,
To speak of,
That Sensual love,
To be made,
I’m not afraid,
Take you by the hips,
And kiss you on lips,

Your woman I’m into,
To dance with you,
To twirl in lust,
Our bodies will thrust,
Upon each other,
To becom...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

hungover. by Rachel Spell

her childhood tastes like whiskey
on virgin youthful tongue;
liquid fire scalding her soul
since she was still young.

her past tastes like rum,
like everything she knew
that was painful and scary
was comforting her too.

her lov...

Performed by Bill Poulin

The uninvited guest, by Alex Hai

I am an immigrant

of my own premiere .

The cinema is full

of empty whispering chairs

Covid 19 is the uninvited guest

filling all movie theaters for now

I wish I could beam a few years back

so exciting

to see people taking t...

YOU CAN, by Nadine Weathersby

Life is not merely a game of chance,
It’s yours to shape and mold, you can be whatever you want to be in
constant reality if you accept the responsibility
You can stand tall,
Dare not to fall, persist, insist, and you will win,
Use all your tools; get the knowledge...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

Before After Always, by Eugene Butler

Before what?
Birth…Breath…Discovery…
Love…Loss…Joy…
Pain…Awareness…Memory
Regret…Tears…Laughter
Death?
And after?
Believe the Buddhist
Believe the Christian
Believe the Muslim
Believe the Jew
Believe the Atheist
One is the other…T...

Performed by Hannah Ehman

BEST FRIEND, by Debbie Fersht

A child puts her doll to bed. Tell me a story, says the doll. You always say that, says the girl. Tell me a story, the doll repeats. Go to sleep you two, says her father from the light underneath the bedroom door. You’re my best friend, whispers the girl to the d...

What I Thought I Wanted

Have you ever wondered who you would be
Without your profession, without your role
Without a position in life that holds
The you, that you know to be in this world
The you, who you think is important
The pearl
That is singular?
One and specific?
Identified by name and pos...

Read by Val Cole

THE CALL OF PAN

© 2015

Barbara Grace Lake

I heard a piping in the wood –

Haunting, calling me

To follow if I dare.

I heard it in the dawn

As misty sunlight gently touches

Tips of trees when first aroused

And leaves are freshest.

Mounds of grassy thickets

Crunch beneath my feet

From...

Her last smile, by Mustofa Munir

when the clock of civilization has lost its sense of time
she perceived the world without knowing its malicious darkness,
a lonely young girl died many times
before her death when
she was gang-raped by some beastly men,
suffered many days and months,
she deliver...

TENDER LOVING MOMENTS, by Colin Guest

To feel your tender body touching mine
Is a sweet feeling that is simply divine
I love the touch of your arms around me
It makes me feel happy I want all to see
Our tender love is both strong and true
With our never feeling down and blue
Just to hold your h...

POETRY Reading:

fan the flame
let it die out
or set fire to the kitchen trying to make breakfast
with you at four in the morning

take a walk instead

paint the winter canvas of town
like a boot on the moon

trip on the ice and knock your head into mine
watch our breath intersect in the space...