Michele McDannold
Author's posts
Feb 25
THE POLISH HAMMER POETRY CORNER: Just Another Casualty of the Industrial Revolution by Karl Koweski
The Polish Hammer Poetry Corner Just Another Casualty of the Industrial Revolution I didn’t set out to be a factory worker. Near as I can remember, I didn’t set out to be much of anything. I knew I was poor. I knew most every path would entail working for a living, likely existing paycheck …
Feb 24
2 poems by Juliet Cook
Doll Fingers with Bloody Scrap Metal Nails I’ve had enough of your lighthearted positivity. There’s nothing light about this. Nothing light about four or more years of dismantled life. More missing fingers, broken off and hidden. My middle finger is still intact for now. Invasive Glimmers Maybe it only existed inside my mind was …
Feb 23
2 poems by Oz Hardwick
Generative In 2074, the steely French Procurator finds his voice, adjusts his deaf-aid, and embraces his multitudinous deficiencies like a whale embraces blubber. He is, like all officials, a product of poorly-maintained AI, his role defined by inept committee, his decisions built from ill- considered prompts and inane questions. His synapses are faulty brake lights …
Feb 22
Service Dogs by Zack Kopp
SERVICE DOGS FRANK FLIES MOVED into a luxurious apartment at the top of the only nice-looking high rise in a sea of dumpy apartment buildings. It had an elevator, carpeted floors, great views, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Frank looked younger than his age (52) but the other tenants in his new building were …
Feb 21
Cento 2025 by Milenko (Miles) Budimir
Cento 2025 (based on a quote in Timothy Snyder’s book ‘On Tyranny,’ which comes from a German Jewish newspaper editorial dated February 2, 1933) Do not subscribe to the view that… Will implement the proposals circulating in… Will not suddenly deprive… Of their constitutional rights… Nor enclose them in… Nor subject them to… Jealous and …
Feb 21
The People Upstairs by Gerald Yelle
The People Upstairs Maybe their preemie no longer needs incubating or maybe their laundry needs hanging out to dry. Maybe it’s time they stave off hunger with dim-sum sunshine and oatmeal. That’s the song I mean to sing for them: Sunshine and oatmeal and all the seeds of sorrow tossed in the wind. The path …
Feb 20
2 poems by Jeff Taylor
Struggle Bus Revolution Being in therapy has brought me to the realization that I’m terrible at life. I fumble across a spectrum of struggle buses masking their way through rotary after rotary. I’ll never be the most reliable voice in your wallet but I’ll always be stretching the limits of steel and rubber, I’ll always …
Feb 19
Observer Effect III by Jim Murdoch
Observer Effect III Curiously enough, one cannot read a book; one can only reread it.—Vladimir Nabokov This poem won’t make sense to you the first time you read it so let’s pretend this is the second time and jump straight to the next stanza. The words in a poem never change. They are fixed, immutable, …
Feb 19
a minor writer by Kurt Nimmo
a minor writer if you want to be a famous writer you kill somebody, he said, and then write a fucking opus in prison. he lit a cigarette, blew smoke into the air, and continued. or kidnap the mayor’s daughter. I can see that working, I can see the headlines emblazoned in gold and outlined …
Feb 18
THE POLISH HAMMER POETRY CORNER: The Ballad of Extended Adolescence by Karl Koweski
The Polish Hammer Poetry Corner The Ballad of Extended Adolescence Twenty miles away from where I’m sitting right now writing this column, my twenty-two-year-old son is sitting in a rented house staring at a computer screen of his own. He’s not writing a column or working on a novel that’s only going to fizzle out …
