Jared Morningstar is a high school English teacher and adjunct English professor at Saginaw Valley State University and Delta College. He writes about his interests and observations of the world around him. Morningstar has published three collections of poetry and prose (American Fries, American Reality, and A Slice of American Pie) through Alien Buddha Press, and he was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2020. He lives in Michigan with his wife and children.

Instagram: @lordjstar

Twitter: @reallordjstar

Facebook:facebook.com/jmorningstarwriter

Goodreads:goodreads.com/jaredmorningstar

YouTube:youtube.com/jstar_the_poet

TikTok: @jstar_the_poet

Learning the Game Just before the plane crashes into the frozen Iowa ground, you realize you’ll never play another concert hall, set the nation on fire again with those six strings on that gorgeous Stratocaster, make American youth believe that you are some horn-rimmed, musical Clark Kent who’s here to make them dance, to give them hope that they, too…

Charles K. Carter (they/he) is a queer poet who currently lives in Oregon. They are the author of several books, including Read My Lips (David Robert Books) and Artificial Sweetness (Finishing Line Press). He is also the creator and host of the video podcast series #SundaySweetChats. Carter can be found on Instagram and Twitter @CKCpoetry

Omens of 99E On my way to work, there is a cat on the side of the road, fluffy and grey. She almost looks like she is resting but the circling flies and pecking crows shout another story. And I wonder how long she had lived aimlessly grey, in a perpetual state of decay. Then there is a dead black kitten in the middle of the road, paws stretching across yellow painted line, reaching out for something – or was it reaching for someone? And I think of the student I couldn’t save from homophobia’s…

Thank you to Colin Ward a fellow author who invited me over to his blog for an interview about my books. Fancy a read? Go over to In As Many WORDSHERE

Bio: Patricia Walsh was born and raised in the parish of Mourneabbey, Co Cork, Ireland. To date, she has published one novel, titled The Quest for Lost Eire, in 2014, and has published one collection of poetry, titled Continuity Errors, with Lapwing Publications in 2010. She has since been published in a variety of print and online journals across Ireland, The UK, USA, and Canada. She has also published another novel, In The Days of Ford Cortina, in August 2021.

The Thumbed Nose Absorbing caffeine in a milky touch, Working at random, the typewriter stuck, Ersarz painting styles run through slipshod Artisan cold perspectives over the picking up. This groovy thing, who will be her man? Nothing above order, painting the alphabet Allergens noticing the hardcore victory OfFinally recognizing the good stuff, interested. Colder than residual fire, the rhyming fake Walking back to the coalface, supply and demand The ease…

Bio: Nolcha’s poems have been curated in Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Alien Buddha Zine, Medusa’s Kitchen, and others. Her poetry books are available on Amazon and Dancing Girl Press. Nominee for 2023 Best of The Net. Editor for Open Arts Forum and Chewers & Masticadores. Accidental interviewer/reviewer. Faker of fake news.

Website: https://bit.ly/3bT9tYu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nolcha.fox/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoxNolcha

Medium: @nolchafox_14571

*Writer’s Notes: I started a 30-day challenge of writing poems, where the first and last lines are from someone’s published poem(s). I hope you’ll consider these poems from the challenge as a poetry showcase.

Postures

Love’s old postures appear
in an old black-and-white movie,
Cigarettes poised to kiss pouting lips.
The close-ups, the longing
of two lovers parting,
The credits roll by
with the spring lethargy of a lover.


Thanks to Jules Gibbs poem, “X,” for the first and last linesDinner I could rest a dinner set on…

Bio: Frogg Corpse is a poet, vocalist, actor, & photographer in the Louisville and Southern Indiana Area. Frogg has written a plethora of poems whilst fronting metal bands in the Southend of Louisville. Select highlights of his career in the arts include auditioning for American Idol & The Voice, working in Las Vegas with magician Criss Angel and actor Eric Roberts, writing a blog for 48 Hour Books, performing alongside spoken word artist Suli Breaks and Brandon Leake from America’s Got Talent. Since 2014 Frogg has performed annually at Gonzofest, a Louisville event that celebrated the legacy of Gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Recently Frogg’s poem ” The Night Two Lovers Leapt” placed second in the 2023 Literary Edition of LEO Weekly. Recent theatrical work includes working backstage as well as acting in Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest (Company OutCast) as well as production work on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance…

photo from pixabay (geralt)

Bio: Edilson Afonso Ferreira, 79 years, is a Brazilian poet who writes in English rather than in Portuguese. Widely published in selected international literary journals in print and online, he began writing at age 67, after his retirement from a bank. Since then, he counts 185 poems published, in 295 different publications. Has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize 2017, and his first Poetry Collection, Lonely Sailor - One Hundred Poems - was launched in London in 2018. His second book “Joie de Vivre – Caressing our Joy”, with fifty new poems, has been launched in April 2022. He is always updating his works at www.edilsonmeloferreira.com. (185/295 … often, one poem first published in a literary journal is later republished in another one)

Dreaming of a new World I dreamed that there were no borders or barriers, and everyone was coming and going all over. No…

from DREAM THEORIES

I

xxxxxxthe moon dictates

nudges us forwardsxxxxxxreacts to

the cerebral entanglement

of what might be magicalxxxxxxmight be

an alternative existence

a personal thingxxxxxxdominates

the square edges

of a loosely-drafted altercation

between observers

lined up for tonight’s

transit of Venus

visions create a very personal thing

we’ve groomedxxxxxxa planet for the occasionxxxxxxsilvered up

scenic routesxxxxxxwe’ve been included in…