Verga
By Robin Coste LewisBefore leaving her they put stones in her vagina
The men will only be raped but the stones will be killed
The bush caught many men to go into the stones
Search Results
Laundry
By Alicia OstrikerJust finished folding laundry. There's the news. A slender prisoner, ankles shackled, nude back and legs striped by a brown substance you might take for blood but which probably is feces, hair long, arms extended at shoulder level like a dancer or like Jesus, walks toward a soldier with rolled-up pants and a gun, posed legs akimbo in the tiled corridor. I cannot say from the image if the soldier is smiling, too few pixels to tell.
Hanover County Jail, Commonwealth of Virginia
By Bonnie NaradzayLunch today for the inmates means white bread
and a slice of baloney. Dinner is more of the same.
The limit now - two meals a day to stay in budget.
Rubber Dollie
By Scott HightowerLike a dancer covered in nothing
but white powder, then sponged
with coarse brown makeup;
Normal
By Reginald Harriswalk long enough
with a pebble in your shoe
and walking with a pebble becomes
normal
And Even George W. is out of a Job
By Kim JensenYou know the economy's bad
when people are lined up around the block
to apply for the job
of the wicked witch.
Other Mothers
By Persis M. KarimTheir sons who speak of a cause
As if it were their two feet
beneath them. That they could hold an idea
The Day Obama Decided
By Margit BermanThe day Obama decided enough was enough
and turned off his TV and slept well for the first time since 2007,
and Nancy Pelosi decided enough was enough
Chatham Peace Vigil
By Dan WilcoxThe lunch counter TV is busy.
My sandwich is slow, but
sitting feels good after standing