 |
Home |
Acuff, Gale |
Ahern, Edward |
Allen, R. A. |
Alleyne, Chris |
Andes, Tom |
Arnold, Sandra |
Aronoff, Mikki |
Ayers, Tony |
Baber, Bill |
Baird, Meg |
Baker, J. D. |
Balaz, Joe |
Barker, Adelaide |
Barker, Tom |
Barnett, Brian |
Barry, Tina |
Bartlett, Daniel C. |
Bayly, Karen |
Beckman, Paul |
Bellani, Arnaav |
Berriozabal, Luis Cuauhtemoc |
Beveridge, Robert |
Blakey, James |
Burke, Wayne F. |
Burnwell, Otto |
Campbell, J. J. |
Cancel, Charlie |
Capshaw, Ron |
Carr, Steve |
Carrabis, Joseph |
Centorbi, David Calogero |
Christensen, Jan |
Clifton, Gary |
Cody, Bethany |
Costello, Bruce |
Coverly, Harris |
Crist, Kenneth James |
Cumming, Scott |
Davie, Andrew |
Davis, Michael D. |
Degani, Gay |
De Neve, M. A. |
Dillon, John J. |
Dominguez, Diana |
Dorman, Roy |
Doughty, Brandon |
Doyle, John |
Dunham, T. Fox |
Ebel, Pamela |
Fagan, Brian Peter |
Fillion, Tom |
Fortier, M. L. |
Fowler, Michael |
Garnet, George |
Garrett, Jack |
Graysol, Jacob |
Grech, Amy |
Greenberg, KJ Hannah |
Grey, John |
Hagerty, David |
Hardin, Scott |
Held, Shari |
Hicks, Darryl |
Hivner, Christopher |
Hoerner, Keith |
Hohmann, Kurt |
Holt, M. J. |
Holtzman, Bernice |
Hopson, Kevin |
Hubbs, Damon |
Irwin, Daniel S. |
Jabaut, Mark |
Jermin, Wayne |
Jeschonek, Robert |
Johns. Roger |
Kanner, Mike |
Karl, Frank S. |
Kempe, Lucinda |
Kennedy, Cecilia |
Keshigian, Michael |
Kitcher, William |
Kompany, James |
Koperwas, Tom |
Larsen, Ted R. |
Le Due, Richard |
Leotta, Joan |
Lester, Louella |
Lubaczewski, Paul |
Lucas, Gregory E. |
Luer, Ken |
Lukas, Anthony |
Lyon, Hillary |
Mannone, John C. |
Martinez, Richard |
McConnell, Logan |
McQuiston, Rick |
Middleton, Bradford |
Milam, Chris |
Mladinic, Peter |
Mobili, Juan |
Mullins, Ian |
Myers, Jen |
Nielsen, Ayaz Daryl |
Nielsen, Judith |
Onken, Bernard |
Owen, Deidre J. |
Park, Jon |
Parker, Becky |
Pettus, Robert |
Plath, Rob |
Prusky, Steve |
Radcliffe, Paul |
Reddick, Niles M. |
Reutter, G. Emil |
Robson, Merrilee |
Rollins, Janna |
Rose, Brad |
Rosmus, Cindy |
Ross, Gary Earl |
Rowland, C. A. |
Saier, Monique |
Sarkar, Partha |
Scharhag, Lauren |
Schauber, Karen |
Schildgen, Bob |
Schmitt, Di |
Sesling, Zvi E. |
Short, John |
Slota, Richelle Lee |
Smith, Elena E. |
Snethen, Daniel G. |
Steven, Michael |
Stoler, Cathi |
Stoll, Don |
Surkiewicz, Joe |
Swartz, Justin |
Taylor, J. M. |
Temples. Phillip |
Traverso Jr., Dionisio "Don" |
Turner, Lamont A. |
Tustin, John |
Tyrer, DJ |
Varghese, Davis |
Verlaine, Rp |
Viola, Saira |
Waldman, Dr. Mel |
Weibezahl, Robert |
Weil, Lester L. |
White, Robb |
Wilhide, Zachary |
Williams, E. E. |
Williams, K. A. |
Wilsky, Jim |
Wiseman-Rose, Sophia |
Woods, Jonathan |
Young, Mark |
Zackel, Fred |
Zelvin, Elizabeth |
Zeigler, Martin |
Zimmerman, Thomas |
Zumpe, Lee Clark |
|
|
 |
|
 |
A Short Poem for a Long Trip by Richard LeDue I
will probably never travel further
than this page, where white
reminds me of Himalayan snow and words are tracks too easily filled back in, as if existence
a lie told by a guide
to impress tourists, who
believe they're missing something they can't find at home. A Failed Love Poet by Richard LeDue Love poems don't care
about your broken tooth or how you have to drive three hours to have it fixed, love
poems don't stay awake, worried about the possible blood clot in your leg, love poems don't ask the pharmacist their
opinions on the best diaper rash creams, where the Metamucil is located, what multivitamin is preferable for a six-year-old boy who only eats six or seven different
foods (having said “banana” once, only to never say it again), and love poems don't pay the dentist bill with a credit card, the raising prices reminding
us how low we feel when we realize most love poems go unread because the audience more concerned with a developing cavity
than the smeared heart blood left on a page.
August 24,
79 CE by Richard LeDue They
say brains became black glass from the heat of Mount Vesuvius
that day, and I imagine imaginations going
dark, while memories of unsaid love became
even more fragile, but maybe that sort of death wasn't the
worse— creating the realest afterlife, but
only for grey brain matter that fired thoughts like
lightning, always believing itself to be more like
Zeus than the neighbour, who's only thunder came
from yelling at his wife and smashing another bottle against the wall.
A Not-So Brilliant Poem by Richard LeDue Fame is a fart we should be too polite to acknowledge— it is a stench disguised as Miss America, trying to fool nostrils into believing they can
blink, but being average is the real rose: the most glorious blooming we sell too cheap just to wither in a vase
that cost more than this poem ever will.
Something
Bigger by Richard LeDue A
poem about tiny bugs (who survive on spilled honey, just out of sight on
the top shelf of the cupboard) could say something bigger than
my own inadequacies as a housekeeper, but too many of us admire clean
floors and how we could eat off them if the occasion called for it.
Necessity by
Richard LeDue The price of milk has gone up— another ingredient in inflation's recipe, and I'm sure the lactose intolerant are laughing behind bathroom doors, trying so damn hard not to be heard, although no one is even listening, while cows probably feel more important, like a grocery clerk making fifty cents more than minimum wage because it helps a necktie sleep.
A Reason to Put the Rent Up by Richard
LeDue A DNA test to prove who let
their dog crap on the landlord's lawn is enough to
silence a broken dishwasher or the doctor's bill for a sore
back, while rent goes up quietly among typed words on a white
page, and your anger goes unheard among indifferent faces that
would become more interesting underneath paper bags, but
if you were to light them on fire it would be no prank, but
a crime used to sell more newspapers or
bait more clicks as your lawyer checked their phone, deaf
to the real guilty.
Giving Up on Hope by Richard LeDue Hope can live inside someone like a mouse chewing wires, only to cause a fire when it's least expected, ruining some,
while leaving others feeling lucky because they knew when to get
out. Whatever Is Inside of Us by Richard
Le Due Wolves
watch from a safe distance, making no myths about the
religious implications of eating a person and their soul, while
a passing raven has more reverence for a twig shaped like a
wing bone than the way warm breath dances with
cold air, proving whatever is inside of us smart enough
to try and escape, especially as our tracks go in circles because
we're too stubborn to admit we're lost. Beer and
Love Songs on a Wednesday Night by Richard Le Due The
father in another county as the teenage mother doesn't even have a nun squeezing
her hand, whispering about God's plan, how adoption
could be salvation, and she'll still listen to those same songs about
love afterwards, except now she'll notice the twenty-something
rock stars don't seem as good a match for someone who's
16, and the engagement ring she threw back at him says
more about love than those songs, and his smug hello years
later when she worked as a waitress (even though she went back for
her grade 10 after dropping out) caused her to go home and
get drunk says more about love than those
songs, while the half sister I met three times seemed
nice enough for a stranger. Richard LeDue (he/him) lives in Norway House, Manitoba,
Canada. He has been published both online and in print. He is the author of seven books
of poetry. His latest book, Everyday Failure, was released from Alien Buddha Press
in October 2022.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Site Maintained by Fossil
Publications
|
|
|
 |