Mike Zone writes

Nothing like the sun 

Men without women
red bench-drunken sex on the floor
picking tomatoes
with migrants in the sun
daylight unhindered
in the glory of afternoon toil
observing nature sound
no sensual trickster pleasure
but the sight of imaginary thee
free to be
but a humble friend
of the earth

Mike Zone writes

Masks in the streets 

Masks in the streets
the lions don’t roar
there’s masks in the streets
spilling left over contagion
from the sheets
masks in the streets
from hot summer night excursions
pornographic pandemic rendezvous
where the infected
slip and slide
in one another
thrusting towers
in secret wonderment
masks in the streets
same as it ever was
only in your face
behind dwindling daylight veils
how morning dew resembles
viral fever sweat
masks in the streets
death-rattle blues
let’s disregard folly and forget social contract lies
let’s commit our crimes at sunrise
high noon armed robbery at the food bank
dressed as Dali
masks in the streets
we’ll shoot fake healthcare workers in cold blood
spreading whatever it is around
in protest for their haircuts
and yelling at waitstaff
masks in the streets.
 
-- Jeff Kowalsky

Mike Zone writes

Advice from La Mancha 

No one knows you
when you’re down
Don’t step into the ring
unless
you know
you’re going to win
God is the only true judge
Death comes
to rich and poor
apartment, mansion…
we’re not promised
another day
But I say to you
everyone struggles
From the goodest hearts
comes the evilest intent
be kind
(NONE OF IT HELPED) 

Don Quixote --  Aurelio Teno

Mike Zone writes

Burrito on the sidewalk

Splattered

resembling the whole

until the bottom

at sidewalk bottom

engulfed by the cigarette jungle

burrito on the sidewalk

pinto smashed beans

among toxic red pepper

digestive tract death

even the seagulls stay away

tortilla glue white

burrito on the sidewalk

an excrement vault

never leaves

been there a week

perhaps one day

I shall have the heavy expectations

as great as the seagulls

feasting on garbage

at the back of the Chinese Restaurant

 

--  Narcelio Grud

Mike Zone writes

Not quite there

sometimes you just have to get off the screen and
   bleed

reception from the savage kitchen

cooking with heat - the lava and star dust kind

too much we ignore the state of dreams

faltering toward the beast,

mashed between teeth and acidic saliva - you've

    just prepared yourself for consumption

regurgitated into place - unknown

panic- at year zero, panic - at the non-days

there's no new frontier but the same old same old

pattern recognition - bells and whistles... mod?

    extra mod?

shut the fuck up you were about to speak or think

    clearly

or something along those lines

whatever happened tomorrow?

why are you languishing like that?

don't you see the outline here?

what'd you go to school for?

higher learning? you should be practical training

we have a special program here

pay to train - market style

pay to learn - market style

pay to play - market style

frying up scallions with a six-pack - I just don't

    think market-driven sources are quite

the direction humanity needs to be going in,

so yeah you can just walk away and really learn to

    open your mind

increase awareness - that's the real culinary art of

    existence

when economics is just a failed religion - a pseudo

   creed of failed directives

nemesis to reality

the what if? saga projects the grandiose what-the?

   scenario and then what?

maybe I've taken too much of your time....

time? what time? what was that like before hours

   were divided by pay?

before chunks of life traded for borrowed being?

life - borrowed or held hostage?

don't go looking for answers in poems

life isn't just cherries but pits too,

the beast can break its teeth as well and be just as mirthful in fractured reality

the beast is dead, the beast is fallen, the beast 

   bleeding but still victorious

no - to all the above

but somewhere along the line you may wish to

   find yourself

struggling and slaying will be there without the

   hopes of a better tomorrow

for living and the haven of contemplation along

   with soul serving

will override false transmigration through the

   poison maps of replicant being,

it's a prayer of sorts

but maybe the best I have

in demonstration

Halemaumau Crater -- Diane Burko