One Poem by J.S. O’Keefe

 

Sunflower

I don't understand, he says,

we’ve known each other since childhood,

you’re beautiful, brilliant, kind;

it just does not make sense.

That’s the cruelest thing, she whispers, 

that’s anybody ever said to me.

Already clear: 

solitude has chosen her,

a sunflower turned from the sun 

that’s forgotten her. 

Time is slow river, relentless; 

she, small and trembling, 

walks in the world, 

a dream she cannot touch.

Alone, 

wilting in silence 

that refuses to answer.

J.S. O’Keefe's work spans short stories, essays, and poems. They have been featured in a variety of publications, including AntipodeanSF, Roi Faineant, 101 Words, Everyday Fiction,  Spillwords, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, 50 Word Stories, ScribesMicro, Satire (C&K Publishing), etc.

Three Untitled Poems by Merritt Waldon

 

Three Untitled Poems

#1

The gray smoke rolling off

Cigarette streams in to these 

Lines a poem waiting with a

Permanent marker on the inside

Of her panties 

Reciting John Donne 

While writing roses

In the bush

#2

Considering the ants 

I consider them immensely 

As they don't turn the sweet tea
In to a jug of strange perfume

Or try to pack jug off somewhere

In the darkness

Thank you dow chemicals for

Raid

#3 one for Damien Rucci

Orange high-up in sky

& Lowering every second

Leaves fresh bloomed

Wave ecstatic helloes 

In evening breeze

& No one's seen the moon 

Since Damian Rucci

Came to town

Merritt Waldon born 1974. Lives in Southern Indiana USA.

He has been in many print and online anthologies and journals. He has five books published. Oracles From A Strange Fire by Merritt Waldon & Ron Whitehead published by Cajun Mutt Press. Pistol City Blues published by Dead man's Press Ink. Madison Street Screams & Smoke Break Poems published by Dead man's Press Ink. Recovering Roar: Haiku and other small poems published by Dumpster Fire Press.Poems by Sourav Sarkar and Merritt Waldon published by Cooch Behar. He is a regular in American and others anthologies. A permanent member of Whisky City Press..he is also a regular of Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts.

Five Unpublished Monoku Poems by Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

 

Five Unpublished Monoku Poems

from afar a fleck of color

  

heron’s stiff march the limit

 

river's dynamic nature a meander

   

bee sting I’m very angry

  

grapevine our friendship

 

 

Barbara Anna Gaiardoni is an Italian pedagogist and author. Her Japanese-style poetry has appeared in nearly 300 journals, including The Mainichi, Modern Haiku, The Asahi Haikuist, seashores, and tsuri-doro. A 7th Basho International winner, she earned two nominations for The Touchstone Award 2023 and 2024 (Word on the Street Haiku, Susan Furst Editor). Her haiku poem was nominated for Sundress Publications Annual Best of the Net Anthology (2025) by Marie C Lecrivain, Curator of Al-Khemia Poetica: A Women’s Arts and Writing Journal. 

Ranked among the European Top 100 most creative haiku authors (2024, 2025), she received Honorable Mentions at the Fujisan Tanka Contest (2024, 2025) and was featured for three consecutive years on The Mainichi’s Haiku in English Best.  

Her passions include drawing, swimming, and nature.  

Her motto is: "I can, I must, I want." 

To read her publications, see:  

http://barbaragaiardoni.altervista.org/blog/haikuco-2/  

https://www.facebook.com/barbara.gaiardoni/  

https://twitter.com/BGaiardoni  

https://www.instagram.com/barbaragaiardoni/