Public Republic

Faryad Shiri Photo: It’sGreg Poets are the shadows of birds Seeking on the earth Birds are poets’ dreams Free in the sky

Faryad Shiri Photo: Peter Rosbjerg Let’s return to our dreams Damaged for lots of homes And place no one even though those who are like nothing Look there ! Beyond the mirror Moon is burning Didn’t you say no fighting?

Faryad Shiri Photo: Jessica Keating Photography You think the mirror has passed the dream edge at the time that loneliness is going home untouched And a note is left from you beside the mirror With some dried roses leaves Instead of sign I know That’s the remedy of my cries

Photo: Calliope Diavolo I am the only stage director and I need to: gather all my unconscious perceptions and form them in words; my whole life – I need to hang it out like washing to dry in the sun of my mind. With my imagination I stage a “Tosca”. My sole audience – sensory […]

Maria Lipiskova Translation by Ludmila Yordanova Photo: woodleywonderworks To bring bombs to certain places. Slowly. Descending into deep crevices. Slowly. Filling them up with your hands. And exitting. Slowly. Placing words. At certain places. While shielding yours eyes. And walking away. Slowly. To hear the explosions?

Julie Barbour Photo: kcdstm I heard someone sing: To love is to bury and at the time misunderstood,

Julie Barbour Photo: aturkus Each morning I woke to an ocean of snow and its gray sunless sky. I walked down the black staircase and fed myself in the kitchen, handed the dogs my scraps, cleaned my own plate, then walked up the dark stairs to the room where the winter wind snarled.

Julie Barbour Photo: ciadefoto I long for you, the sad heat of your skin, the flakes of skin in your hair, your shallow breath when you sleep, your sour breath haunting the room. I long for your voice, grouchy, uncertain,

Julie Barbour Photo: 11259551@N02 I chased the sun into the horizon until it fell away then chased the moon, howling in my loneliness. The doctor said to give it two weeks but who has time to wait

Frank X Walker holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University and honorary Doctorate degrees from University of Kentucky and Transylvania University. He has lectured, conducted workshops, read poetry and exhibited at over 300 national and international conferences. He is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets, author of four poetry collections, editor of two […]

JoAnn LoVerde-Dropp Photo: zappowbang I’ll sit here reading until they wake and tie small knots along a string of the nubby quiet kept for quiet’s sake. I’ll sit here reading until they wake breathy syllables loosed in their sway by now words stacked high and teetering but I’ll sit here reading until they wake and […]

Yassen Vassilev Photo: popelegantiarum O crazy royal jester O crippled circus clown O sad harlequin without company O fool of funerary carnivals O crumpled joker without deck

Jerry Ratch Photo: chefranden A canister of unused laughter taken from the mouth of a baby not yet born A splinter of wood from a cross, perfectly preserved in dark tea taken from the belly of a dead Irishman A milky vial of smog taken from the air of Los Angeles circa 1965 A lock […]