It's Been a While
by Kara Astrouski

 

Time Served

Lonely Painting
by Monica Barrameda

 

Matt Tweedie

The Price You Pay
by Clayton Beach

 
The Tale of the Queen of Endor
by Clayton Beach

 

I’m quick to realize exactly where I am
Oh no.
Oh shit.
Oh not again.

The spectacle unfolds in the large, frigid block
Varied characters exchange many words
But there is little solace to be found
In any of them

The Incredible Hulk paces about
Cursing Fate and the choices he made that night
He makes sure everyone is aware of his plight, many times
He must be quite cold, I think to myself

Woody the Cowboy sits propped against the wall
Out like a light
There’s no snake in his boot
But there is vomit down his front

Mr. Cool Guy is pissing his pants in the corner
A few of us are forced to relocate
He tries to deny it but I saw you man
I saw you piss your pants

And I? A poor and wretched boy
Stripped of aught and all that made my costume
Except for the soot on my face
You could hardly tell I was to be a Chimney Sweep

We wait, Brothers in captivity
To hear our number called
Without food, without water, without a decent place to go to the bathroom
It proves impossible to sleep in that terrible room, so I don’t

I just sit, sit and think
When all of this is said and done, and all my fines are paid
And I have spent time driving back and forth between the Courthouse
I still won’t have learned a damn thing
A sobering thought.


Wintersong
by Clayton Beach
 
Mad Dogs Bite
by Janet Berend

 
Desert Firefly
by Taen Bounthapanya
Third Place Winner, Poetry
 
Virtual Reality
by Taen Bounthapanya

 
Early morning staring at an ugly fountain by Breelyn Burns
 
Ten Year Old Militia
by Breelyn Burns
Editor's Choice Award, Poetry
 
Arrogance Unplugged
by Rachel Busnardo

 
Goodbye My Best Friend
by Rachel Busnardo

 
At a Small-Town Club
by Jessica Conaway

 
Red Stiletto Heels
by Jessica Conaway

 
Naked and Perfect
T.C. Cook

Second Place Winner, Poetry

 
Too Far
by T.C. Cook

 
Someday
by Jermane Cooper

 
The Girl Who Wrote This Stands at
5’ 2” (on a Good Day)
by Shayna Coplan
 
Pontificating Drunks
by Dennis Dorsey
 
The Symptom
by Dennis Dorsey
 
Saturday Night Pick-Up
by Tanya Duer

 
Lost in a Moment
by Jamie Dykstra

 
Denizens of Brilliance
by Holland Elder
 
Between His Futon and the Bedroom Wall by Rachel Jones
 
Getting Lost in National City Trying to Find Acapulco
by Rachel Jones

Angelo Carli Poetry Prize
 
Having to Hide
by Rachel Jones

 
I Used To Take My Anger Out On Plants by Rachel Jones  
The Piano
by Rachel Jones
 
Words Like Clay
by Rachel Jones
 
Begetting Tragedy
by Chris Joy

 
My First Last
by Chris Joy
 
There's No Problem Officer
by Brittney Krier

 

No More Rainbows
by Emit Levart

 
Ernest Hemingway (My Cat):
A Villanelle
by Melanie Maheu
 
The Small Beauties of Marriage
by Melanie Maheu
 
Do The Punks Still Raise Their High Pumping Fists in the Air?
by Brendan Mitchell
 
Love
by Natalie Parker
 

Three Sides of the Fence
by Natalie Parker

 
Watching TV While Having Sex
by Jessee Pugliese

 

freedom
by Ruth Rice

 
partner
by Ruth Rice
 

six weeks
by Ruth Rice

 
Blood
by Rachelle Shull
 
Fall
by Jacob Triffo
 
Time Served
by Matt Tweedie
 
Romance to Reality
by Aga-Marie Wehrly
 
Solicitude
by Matt Whitney
 
Why We Write
by Karen Wooton