Gnashing Teeth Publishing

| words that get in your teeth

whose freedom are they celebrating? by linda m crate

the fireworks are booming,
whose freedom are they celebrating
because not everyone is free?
police brutality is still happening,
kids are still dying in cages,
black and brown people are dying;
people are still screaming at me
that all lives matter and dragging their heels
in any time i try to explain that black people
just want their lives to matter—
someone shared that blm
is marxist,
but have you seen our economy?
would you claim that
capitalism has helped you,
because it hasn’t helped me?
i’m just a cog in a pointless machine that exists
only to feed hands of the people who never show their faces or
do any of the work,
and i for one am tired of the greed of wealthy men and women;
those who think they’re above the law—
none of us are free until we abolish the systems
holding each and every one of us back from our potentials,
and i wish they could see that;
other poor or struggling people aren’t the enemy—
those who keep the resources and wealth to themselves are the true monsters,
and i am going to rip off all their masks if given the chance.

~

Linda M. Crate’s works have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies both online and in print. She is the author of six poetry chapbooks, the latest of which is: More Than Bone Music (Clare Songbirds Publishing House, March 2019). She’s also the author of the novel Phoenix Tears (Czykmate Books, June 2018). Recently she has published two full-length poetry collections Vampire Daughter (Dark Gatekeeper Gaming, February 2020) and The Sweetest Blood (Cyberwit, February 2020).

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

connect

we love hearing from you. tell us everything