A Shayira of Sorts

by A.V. Koshy

O Rumi
intoxication with the divine
is not the only way

O Ghalib
the way of the senses
is not the only one

Brothers, you know
the body of my love
also has on it cartography
that gives me the map:
I alone have the key
to open its hidden door
Before me spreads
the unending vistas
of her Keen Delight

APOLLO’S GIFT

by Michael H. Brownstein

My dear Cassandra, I must punish you. From this day on you will only speak the truth, but no one will ever believe you.
—Apollo to Cassandra after she broke one precept or another

My name is Cassandra,
But you believe me to be someone else,
And, yes, I am a woman.
Listen! My eyes are green,
My hair is black,
Greeks do hide in the belly of the horse.
I live here, behind that wall,
My bedding, that corner.
I need not latch my door
Nor do I need clothing during sleep.
Legs gapped open, I wait for you.
Always.

monster evening

by Mike Foldes

the monsters came from everywhere
to sing, to dance, to copulate,
to pen their poems in shadowy halls
where monsters go to procreate.

the languages they spoke were one,
a blend of blood and sand and snow,
of crystal skies and perfect fruit,
of guttaral, pachyderm and crow.

the monsters came from everywhere
and when the shiraz began to flow
unscheduled breaks, a spark, a spore,
their fecund minds, flint and steel

lay lightly on the feathered plain,
throats parched, riven to the core.

To the killer hiding in the back seat of my car at 10 p.m.

by Jessica Otto

Hello.

Who’s back there?

Lovely night, isn’t it?

I was going to go home

but now

I want to treat myself

to an adventure;

something I can sink

my teeth into.

Get away from me! Stupid

driver! I hate it when people

get right up my ass

like that. I hate it

when people don’t get out

of the way for ambulances

and fire trucks;

Mr. Tough Guy

with a cigarette behind his ear

and an elbow sticking

out the window like the

biggest asshole in the world.

Wait till you start speeding 90,

100 miles in the wrong direction,

am I right? Splatter

brains all over the highway!

Seriously, you need to

speak up if you’re back there

because I hate it

when people call me crazy.