Letting Go By Taylor Dibbert

He remembers

Playing cards

At their place

The in-laws

Were in town

And he doesn't 

Even remember

What game 

They were playing

He just remembers

His mother-in-law

Complaining about something

And being a sore loser

Which was a regular thing

And he remembers

Getting annoyed

And also

Acting annoyed

And then

When it was time 

For the in-laws 

To go 

To their hotel

For the night

He went to the kitchen

To wash the dishes

And in hindsight

His marriage 

Was over 

Long before 

That unpleasant night

But it was nights

Like that one

That have made

It easier

To let go.

Taylor Dibbert is a writer, journalist, and poet in Washington, DC. “Rescue Dog,” his fifth book, was published on May 7.

A Weedeater Lobotomy By John Patrick Robbins

       

Skull fucked into submission, nobody speaks an ounce of truth, but they can sure spew that bullshit.

Everyone's got a hustle; let's pull the grenades pin and seek shelter behind some tight-bodied teens' paywall.

I won't cash in my dignity for a go-fund me, but I will most certainly drink myself into the grave.

Man's desire to claim everything that is just beyond reach.

I crave nothing but silence like a cemetery, and only my thoughts alone to drive me insane.

I may shoot Clorox to cleanse my arteries because my soul is fucked.

Never sweat the decay. The earth is cold, as so is a corpse.

My cough syrup paired well with the gasoline I huffed.

I treat my brain as a test subject.

I am dying to learn the results.

Crashed the course straight into a brick wall.

I'm only temporarily brain-damaged; in other words, I'm probably okay.

JPR, is a southern gothic writer, his work has been published in Lothlorien Journal Of Poetry, Fixator Press, Impspired Magazine, Spill The Words Pres, Disturb The Universe, Fearless Poetry Zine, The Dope Fiend Daily, Horror Sleaze Trash.

His newest book is Midnight Masochism from Black Circle Publishing available on Amazon.

Fucked Up By Taylor Dibbert

As the divorce

Recedes into

The background

He feels

His heart

Continuing

To harden,

Who knows

If this is

A temporary thing

Or not

Who knows 

How much that

First love

Fucked him up

But as

The weeks

Turn to years

He knows 

That he’ll learn

Whether the damage

Is permanent

Or not.

Taylor Dibbert is a writer, journalist, and poet in Washington, DC. “Rescue Dog,” his fourth full-length poetry collection, is due out in May.