INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Duane Locke
Elisavietta Ritchie
Sam Cornish
Alan Britt
Shutta Crum
Joseph McNair
Geoffrey Philip
Lazlo Slomovits
Gerald Clark
Chris Lord
Coleman Barks
Marisella Veiga
Joanie Freeman
Dave Etter
Steve Barfield
scharCbear
Michael D. Long
Karyn M. Wolven
Running Cub
Silvia Scheibli
In an early night sky,
a star splashed fire on my skin.
On this spot armadillos, jasmine &
acoustic crickets turn blue.
Three young vultures scan the street
embarrassed by their wings.
Ocotillos dip fingers into the
ancestors of two vermilion moons.
Twice the saguaro blooms--once
at midnight, and again when
a white owl approaches at our right.
Tiny white grasshoppers linger like
thoughts on branches.
An orange and black dragonfly dies
praying for forgiveness in a lake of wax.
Minutes walk on all fours
like coyotes, not missing a step.
A baby rattlesnake is coiled
around my wrist, sobbing.
OUTSIDE ELVIRA'S
Restaurant is a cart
With a donkey.
A folded fuchsia flower
In his hat,
And a bucket tied
To his tail.
Inside,
Elvira's walls are
Three dimensional--
An archeological dig
With flying terracotta pots,
Another painted lime green
With empty birdcages.
Aluminum orchids
Bloom on the ceiling.
Dining at Elvira's
Is like swallowing light
Reflected from an underwater garden
And drinking blue agave memories.
Silvia Scheibli, Lago Place, Arizona