Four and Twenty

the azalea
outside my window
died in summer
dull spring coming

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

David C. Kopaska-Merkel’s poetry has appeared in scores of venues, including Asimov’s, Strange Horizions,and Star*line. He edits Dreams & Nightmares magazine and is president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.| dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com

He fancies himself a craftsman

Painter of abstractions:
Visceral and sincere,
Might it be that I find
My face within the lines.

Darren Crawford

Darren Crawford is a freelance writer, a full-time nurse, and a student. His work has been featured in several editions of The Anthology, Winthrop University’s literary magazine, and in the curriculum of his community college in South Carolina.

Forgetful

I’m flying on a bike,
Spinning and spinning and spinning
With the wind in my hair—
“Wait, where’s my helmet?”

Alan Johnston

Alan Johnston, a senior at Clackamas High School in Clackamas, Oregon, is a running fool. He runs fifty miles a week. When he’s not running, he’s trying to be funny.