Gnashing Teeth Publishing

| words that get in your teeth

A Country’s Bones by David R. DiSarro

Watching the twang of America

on T.V. nipping at the heel chords,

the tendons, the porous

ruins of a Country’s bones,

the Coup

the busts of Con-

federates in the Rotunda,

not a culture,

but a filter, Dis-

stilled and Dis-

gusting

white lightning,

blustering, cowering

at the distant

thunder that awaits.

 

But we say this

in whispers,

in the bubble

of our living rooms,

in the fragility

of being witness,

our bodies infected,

our senses dulled,

eating Georgia peaches

from a can,

from the couch,

until

there’s that twinge,

that faint sweetness

of hope

on the tongue –

and we sit together

you and I,

confused

and weeping.

Goodnight, Taj Mahal by Andre Peltier

Deep below earth, clay and sand, deep below roots and aquifers, it lies in wait. Like that silent coyote stalking her white-tailed deer through the brush, it waits patiently and

contain by Megan Cartwright

verb past tense: contained; past participle: contained 1. have or hold (someone or something) within. Similar: hold carry To have and to hold in our own microcosm, constructed of hope.

Listening to Words by Mona Mehas

Listening to words out of touch cross lily pads, one to the next my rules, a tiny picture frame debt of honor, repay the gift. Headlights illuminate the path listening

Blooming by Elizabeth Gade

Some days are easy and some days are exhausting the days you have to dig through the muck inside take more hits than a heavyweight prize fighter cling to life

Pomegranate Rose by Laura Peña

I want to feed this delicacy To my concubine A tiny spoonful at a time I want to watch the luscious sorbet Linger on the tip of her tongue Melt

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