Home Turf
by Rebecca Weber
The memories grow thick here,
a lush tangle of brown grass and green
under the old apple tree
where I used to soar on the swing.
Continue reading . . . “Rebecca Weber: Home Turf”
Karen Yoder: God, We Are Hungry Creatures
God, We Are Hungry Creatures
by Karen Yoder
Just more sophisticated in our scrabbling
Than newborns nuzzling for a nipple.
Continue reading . . . “Karen Yoder: God, We Are Hungry Creatures”
Emily Gingrich: Where Is Your Sting?
Where Is Your Sting?
by Emily Gingrich
The wasp of death is buzzing on the ground,
A helpless, stingless spiral, and I see
The heavy heel of heaven coming down.
The foot that crushes snakes will set us free!
Continue reading . . . “Emily Gingrich: Where Is Your Sting?”
Expectation
by Jon Raymont Jost
“How can this be?”
Almost aloud again, her gasp
moves hand to womb and rests it—there,
a knot of fear and wonder—where
Continue reading . . . “Jon Raymont Jost: Expectation”
Amnesia
by Lori Hershberger
The past has a phone in a farmhouse
A yellow rotary phone, hanging on its kitchen wall;
Its cord loops down like coiled springs,
Its faded yellow smudged with fingerprints.
Continue reading . . . “Lori Hershberger: Amnesia”
Jon Raymont Jost: ‘tok long kheu fon’ or Rain
‘tok long kheu fon’
or
Rain
by Jon Raymont Jost
“Our lives became like those of animals
desperately trying to escape their hunters.”
—a refugee from U.S. bombings on the Plain of Jars
Continue reading . . . “Jon Raymont Jost: ‘tok long kheu fon’ or Rain”
Josh Nisley: Post-Truth Prayer
Post-Truth Prayer
by Josh Nisley
These days of death, when all around us sighs
of limp acedia seep from acid souls
and bots vomit their algorithmic lies
in prattling wastelands now the haunt of trolls,
Continue reading . . . “Josh Nisley: Post-Truth Prayer”
Arielle Walters: My Night a Prayer
My Night a Prayer
by Arielle Walters
And I am left alone. Too still and stark
These naked boughs against the hillside thrown,
Too deep these shades for eyes to share. Alone—
The forms I loved now distant in the dark.
Continue reading . . . “Arielle Walters: My Night a Prayer”
Arielle Walters: My Rest a Stone
My Rest a Stone
by Arielle Walters
And yet I laid me down to sleep, for night
Had come. Some Hand had left these pillows, strong
For weary head, and it would not be long
Until the morn anointed me with sight.
Continue reading . . . “Arielle Walters: My Rest a Stone”
Preparation
by Conrad Martin
The woods steep blood to umber,
The sky floods throat to silver,
Making us lungs.
Continue reading . . . “Conrad Martin: Preparation”
Hunger
by Josiah Peachey
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…”
This hunger for more
Scratching at the window
Continue reading . . . “Josiah Peachey: Hunger”
Crocodile
by Hannah K
I am the one who swallowed a clock:
it keeps not time but me in queasy captivity.
Put your ear to my scaly chest and listen.
Continue reading . . . “Hannah K: Crocodile”
Mothwings
by Lori Hershberger
Every day my skin feels how the rains have come,
sometimes all day, all night,
how they cloud the sun, shroud the moon,
how they tap the earth softly back to life.
Continue reading . . . “Lori Hershberger: Mothwings”
Conrad Martin: Ceremony of Innocence
Ceremony of Innocence
by Conrad Martin
A falcon and a falcon are flying
by loop and swing,
through climb and sweep,
stooping and stepping
Continue reading . . . “Conrad Martin: Ceremony of Innocence”
limp
by Josiah Peachey
Full tilt the words, I throw
Too much of myself forward
Before letting God gather me up
Entering conversations with
Continue reading . . . “Josiah Peachey: limp”
William Hoover: Rachel Weeping, 2021
Rachel Weeping, 2021
by William Hoover
Blocked love, like breastmilk,
Pools and pangs;
Seeks a mouth, an open ocean;
Burns throbbing on the heart;
Goes underground. Continue reading . . . “William Hoover: Rachel Weeping, 2021”
The Birth
by Phoebe Anthus
Oh Root of David
deadlocked by a woman and entombed
from time unknown life’s essence all astir,
half torn from slumber
Continue reading . . . “Phoebe Anthus: The Birth”
Nativity
by Lori Hershberger
And it came to pass in those days
there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus,
and David, wearing Dan Hershberger’s bathrobe,
got up from the ping pong table
Continue reading . . . “Lori Hershberger: Nativity”
Incarnate
by Arielle Walters
He sheds His radiant robe and leaves His throne
For nether spheres. White feet, through cosmic haze,
Tread softly down these aisles He walks alone.
Continue reading . . . “Arielle Walters: Incarnate”
Rebecca Troyer: Almighty Spirit
Almighty Spirit
by Rebecca Troyer
Almighty Spirit, now confined by blood and breath and bone
Ruler of galaxies, You take this footstool as Your home
You gather up infinity, fold it in finite form
Creator now created thing
Continue reading . . . “Rebecca Troyer: Almighty Spirit”