Life Eats Life— poetry by Pikthall

'Roots Traverse' - Digital Photograph (2016)

Roots traverse
The water table and the sky
Life eats life
Survival and violence
Grafted here in copulation
Convexed in a condition
Of pure exhibition 







_
Pikthall is a writer and the Editor of Imperative Papers. 

what happens when you lie to your children— a poem by J.J. Campbell

what happens when 

you lie to your children

i never had

any problems

saying goodbye

it was always

hello that made

me sweat and

feel more

awkward than

i already am

i was told when

i was younger

that i would

eventually

get over that

as i sit back

and reflect i

wonder if any

adult ever told

me the truth as

i was growing

up

perhaps i'm the

poster for what

happens when

you lie to your

children

hope can only

carry anyone

so far

_
J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) is currently trapped in suburbia. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at In Between Hangovers, Tuck Magazine, Your One Phone Call, Rusty Truck and Misfit Magazine. You can find J.J. most days bitching about something on his highly entertaining blog, evil delights.

go burn one down— a poem by J.J. Campbell

go burn one down

i'm sure the news
hit all of us pretty
hard

no one is supposed
to die at just 41

so much life still
ahead and so many
fucking questions
left unanswered

raise a glass and
go burn one down

step on the gas
and drive through
the sunset


_
J.J. Campbell (1976 - ?) is currently trapped in suburbia. He's been widely published over the years, most recently at In Between Hangovers, Tuck Magazine, Your One Phone Call, Rusty Truck and Misfit Magazine. You can find J.J. most days bitching about something on his highly entertaining blog, evil delights.

First Shoots of Spring —a poem by Howie Good

First Shoots of Spring

1
Blood-crazed warriors
in weird green headdresses
leap out of the dark past.

2
Pushing again
and again,
just the very,
very tips
emerge,

knife-points
so small
they’d be easy
to overlook

even though
tinged red

like old
and slightly rusted
heartaches.

_

Howie Good is a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz, the author of five poetry collections, and a Contributing Editor for The Commonline Journal. His most recent book is Cryptic Endearments from Knives Forks & Spoons Press. Other books include Elephant Gun from Dog on a Chain Press, Strange Roads from Puddles of Sky Press, and Death of Me from Pig Ear Press. His poetry has been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthology. Access his blog Apocalypse Mambo.

Belated Elegy for a Tough Jew —a poem by Howie Good

Belated Elegy for a Tough Jew

If it were now,
you would’ve gone
to the police,

but there were
no laws then,

just this guy
in a leather jacket,

and when you
wore that,

nothing bad
could happen
to you.

_
Howie Good is a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz, the author of five poetry collections, and a Contributing Editor for The Commonline Journal. His most recent book is Cryptic Endearments from Knives Forks & Spoons Press. Other books include Elephant Gun from Dog on a Chain Press, Strange Roads from Puddles of Sky Press, and Death of Me from Pig Ear Press. His poetry has been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthology. Access his blog Apocalypse Mambo.

Neither Sun nor Death —prose poetry by Howie Good

Neither Sun nor Death

They are beating the cars with metal bats. I think, “Am I supposed to be here?” That thing is on fire in a big way. I don’t get outside as much anymore. An illegal string offset “echo” has disappeared into the archive, to be handled by only people who wear white cotton gloves. I’m left to just cry. You need to be careful in interpreting that. Every day I confront the same choice: stay inside or perish. Somebody grabs Suzanne’s hair and twists her neck. We make eye contact. I know tulips aren’t spelled two lips.

_
Howie Good is a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz, the author of five poetry collections, and a Contributing Editor for The Commonline Journal. His most recent book is Cryptic Endearments from Knives Forks & Spoons Press. Other books include Elephant Gun from Dog on a Chain Press, Strange Roads from Puddles of Sky Press, and Death of Me from Pig Ear Press. His poetry has been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthology. Access his blog Apocalypse Mambo.

Surefire Method —a poem by Dennis Paul Wilken

Surefire Method

Preaching behavior you
Don't practice
To the kids
You're raising
Is almost as good a way
Of ending up
With troubled teens
As beating them
On the days
You forego
Shooting up
Or
Having sex
With them


_
Dennis Paul Wilken is a prolific poet, sketch-artist, veteran journalist and Literary Editor for The Commonline Journal. He studied at the University of Cincinnati and is a former writer for Cincinnati Magazine. His poem "Outcomes" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2011. His last chapbook is called Sweat Off the Diamond (2009). His forthcoming book is called Poetry Factory (2017). 

A Suggestion —poetry by Dennis Paul Wilken

A Suggestion

To err is human,
But to forgive an
Erroneous
Son of a bitch
is more often divinity
Than i possess,
So around me
Try not to make
So many
Godddam mistakes

_
Dennis Paul Wilken is a prolific poet, sketch-artist, veteran journalist and Literary Editor for The Commonline Journal. He studied at the University of Cincinnati and is a former writer for Cincinnati Magazine. His poem "Outcomes" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2011. His last chapbook is called Sweat Off the Diamond (2009). His forthcoming book is called Poetry Factory (2017). 

Criminal Mastermind Hiding in Plain View —poetry by Scott Wozniak

Criminal Mastermind 
Hiding in Plain View

Every time
one of my poems
is published
I can’t help
but feel
like D.B. Cooper
pulling off
the greatest heist
of all time.

And like D.B.,
I’ll live out
my days
surrounded by people
fully unaware
of my crimes.

_
Scott Wozniak is a poet/chaos enthusiast living in Oregon. His works are widely published both online and in print. His first full length poetry collection, Crumbling Utopian Pipedream (2017), will be released later this year by Moran Press. To track his endeavors, follow @sewozniak on Twitter.

Refusing To Acknowledge Checkmate —a poem by Scott Wozniak

Refusing To Acknowledge Checkmate

Every day,
for hours on end,
I would play
chess with Dre.

Not once
did I beat him.

When we first met
we butted heads--
He wanted to know
why I wasn’t watching
the white boy’s T.V.

He thought I
was on some spy shit
and I thought I
was gonna get my ass kicked
by a 6’5” 260 lb. mutherfucker.

As days passed
we got cool.

He would loan me books
like “Cointelpro,”
“Dark Alliance,”
and “Live From Death Row.”

I would write poems
for him to send
to his girl
for less than I charged
anyone else.

We would spend all day
talking about life
before we met,
and our plans
for when we got out,
while he whooped my ass
on the chess board.

The day I came back
from sentencing,
there he was
pacing, waiting on me
to tell him the verdict.

I said, “They gave me
Nine years, dog.”

His face dropped,
he covered his mouth
with his hand,
and looked deathly serious,
asking, “Damn man, you ok?
You gonna be able to do all that?”

He was afraid
I was gonna kill myself
after lockdown.

I was happy
with my sentence,
considering a week before
they’d offered me twenty years.

But Dre was disgusted,
more upset
over my nine-year sentence
than I ever could’ve imagined
a guy facing charges
for seven murders being.

_
Scott Wozniak is a poet/chaos enthusiast living in Oregon. His works are widely published both online and in print. His first full length poetry collection, Crumbling Utopian Pipedream (2017), will be released later this year by Moran Press. To track his endeavors, follow @sewozniak on Twitter.

The Inevitable Battle —a poem by Scott Wozniak

The Inevitable Battle

My 9-year-old son,
who has taken
to writing
and drawing,
has a set of pencils
inlayed
with gold words
that read,
“Weapons of mass
Creation.”

I can’t help
but think
that my pens,
which I’ve always viewed
as WMDs,
will one day
be involved
in a bloody conflict
with those pencils.


_
Scott Wozniak is a poet/chaos enthusiast living in Oregon. His works are widely published both online and in print. His first full length poetry collection, Crumbling Utopian Pipedream (2017), will be released later this year by Moran Press. To track his endeavors, follow @sewozniak on Twitter.