Massage Post Pandemic

by Jane Ebihara

this body no longer
barren limbs
reaching from shore
or even the motionless bank gloried
now in wild mustard weed
yellow as dawn

this body is liquid 
river
running over sun-hot stone

carrying what breathes
the trout    the tadpole    the eel
cradling what floats and drifts

life     in motion as
before the drought

this body remembers
the brush of the fisherman’s line
the swallows dipping
the rain tapping
the touching  
the  touch

Jane Ebihara is the author of two poetry chapbooks, A Little Piece of Mourning, and, A Reminder of Hunger and Wings. She lives in rural Northern New Jersey where fields and fish and fowl abound. Bob McNeil, writer, editor, cartoonist, and spoken word artist, is the author of Verses of Realness. Hal Sirowitz, a Queens Poet Laureate, called the book “A fantastic trip through the mind of a poet who doesn’t flinch at the truth.” Among Bob’s recent accomplishments, he found working on Lyrics of Mature Hearts to be a humbling experience because of the anthology’s talented contributors. Copies of that collection are available here.

COVID Confusion

by Duane Anderson

What am I doing here;
what is my purpose in life?

It is something I once knew,
and now have lost my way.

There once was a road map,
but that disappeared into space.

My mind is a jungle,
I may not find my way out of.

What is today
if there is no tomorrow?


Duane Anderson currently lives in La Vista, NE, and volunteers with a non-profit organization as a Donor Ambassador on their blood drives.  He has had poems published in The Pangolin Review, Fine Lines, Cholla Needles, Tipton Poetry Journal, Poesis Literary Journal and several other publications. He is the author of Yes, I Must Admit We Are Neighbors (Cyberwit.net – 2021). Bob McNeil, writer, editor, cartoonist, and spoken word artist, is the author of Verses of Realness. Hal Sirowitz, a Queens Poet Laureate, called the book “A fantastic trip through the mind of a poet who doesn’t flinch at the truth.” Among Bob’s recent accomplishments, he found working on Lyrics of Mature Hearts to be a humbling experience because of the anthology’s talented contributors. Copies of that collection are available here.

Sequestered with You

by Bob McNeil

It matters less

now that dark curtains

veil our view.

In isolation

days, elliptical as haiku

end quickly,

yet our nights

scroll out to an epic length.

The season dons dour hues

that contrast

with the carnival-celebratory shades

dancing to our upbeat bond. 

Long before the seasonal coldness,

the world became frigid from fear. 

Under the covers,

our oasis,

we kiss

and disregard every part

of the outside.    

Bob McNeil, writer, editor, cartoonist, and spoken word artist, is the author of Verses of Realness. Hal Sirowitz, a Queens Poet Laureate, called the book “A fantastic trip through the mind of a poet who doesn’t flinch at the truth.” Among Bob’s recent accomplishments, he found working on Lyrics of Mature Hearts to be a humbling experience because of the anthology’s talented contributors. Copies of that collection are available here. Arabella Luna Friedland is a visual artist and writer based in New York City. She’s influenced by a childhood with cartoons, a classical education in anatomy and life drawing, and a firm belief that all art — is a portrait.