Autumn 2016
He’s got two tools from two contingencies
just one flathead and just one phillips
he’s got a hex key a hammer and
a jelly jar of miscellaneous nails
Broom’s by the catbox
Hermit who married
Me, I’d have a gingham bindle on a stick
I’d pick my feet to a pepped up banjo track
doling out my loop from our home and back
yodeling an intermontane tune
with a dollop of dappled sunshine
on a Saturday afternoon
~ Lady
Photos by Tim Green
not shy of ducks
the dames
with their soft white, the drakes
in the middle of a costume change,
every time i think i startled off the
rest of the wood ducks, i startle off
some more.
and rather than jump in, as they
are wont, all the small frogs jump
out of the pond i quietly near, most
heading for the woods beyond the
dotted knapweed, where you
said a prayer for all of us.
a blue jay screams, four eyes see
me from the ponds cleared up face.
turkeys gobble, up the distance
between here and where the
tickseed sunflowers exploded
overnight.
~ bree
Cowboy by Lady
i AllWays Fall
last Night it was April.
National Poetry Month style.
@ the BurntWood Tavern.
the petite blonde BarTender
with the flirt-first smile.
i wrote my NumbErr down & told her
“i proVide”.
she’ll never use it though.
i’m the HeartBreaker that
droppedOut
with A FullRide.
Tonight it was Rachel.
the AngelFaced Waitress
working @ Rubin’s on LowRain.
using SweetHeart, Baby, Honey
& All the other LoverLanes
because she doesn’t know my name.
Damn them both. Damn Damn Damn!
Pretty smile & eyes gets me stir-fried everyTime.
& i can’t stand it. so i sit. to Avoid the Fall.
but i AllWays Fall—until she Falls with me.
i’ll AllWays be in season.
i’ll AllWays need A reason—not to call.
just A week Ago, it was JackieNoon.
the young photographer with dope rap skills
that left me hanging, like A RunAway Bride,
with my Janitor’s Broom sweeping Leaves of Grass
off my Front Porch of GlassPride.
i told her A half-baked whole truth. & now i wish
i would’ve just lied. or at least kept that last golden nugget
tucked to the Saved by the Bell BaySide.
ten years Ago
C.N.T.
was the ReBound
i let fall to the WaySide.
she says she’s gonna cook dinner
for me, for my BirthDay, this year.
we’ll see. she says she’s AllWays loved me.
i can’t tell. I CNT LIE.
~ MaxWell Shell 20/16
Status Report 97
Chilly morning
I take her pocket of warm bed
as she rises
~ Smith
Status Report 91
Female bees getting ready for winter
kicking males out of hive to die
and moving upper honey down to lower frames
all male drones do is sex the queen
and guzzle honey
and winter is long
~ Smith
Ha-ha
i caught two old pupae,
black swallowtail, day-glo,
alright. out in the open,
unabashed, brighter than
the just-born clovers one
of them was munching.
spent the day tripping over
grasshoppers, they dont
care where theyre going to.
got home and this leaf bug
was on my porch, blocking
the door, in fact. i didnt
know if it was wrong to
disturb him. to peer so
closely, when i didnt
even know him.
i had gone out looking for
songbirds. such a busy time,
migration. but my walks have
been thin of them. its
starting to bug me.
~ Zlee
My FallLean
& i woke w/A throat scratch
to throat-coat match this
OverNight ConVersion of ColdAir.
My CONversation w/mySelf started out
w/A curse for not protecting my neck:
WuTang-esque.
Now it’s time to boil water for hot-tea &
let my nose hairs grow.
It’s time to GetRight @ The Cleveland Tea Revival:
Turmeric Ginger & HingeTown Honey…
Still waiting for the leaves to fade into crayon colors…
still looking for Love to lay on All of Us…
Still Anticipating the FreeRange of FreeLove
FreeLanced into our SharpestDance
-MaxWell Shell