CCOONNTTEENNTTSS

UNA NICHOLS HYNUM

the wake 2

• POEMS 1• FRANCES FLORES ALEXANDER

Summon the Muse 4

CAROL ARCHIBALD

Some Days 6

CHARLIE BERIGAN

Janus Jane 7

PAT ANDRUS

Mother’s Hands 8

KJMUNRO

outdoor market 9

BOBBIE JEAN BISHOP

Scooter Magic 10

BRENT AMENEYRO

Leaving California 11

LISA M. CARCIA

California Condor 12

shadow blots the sun 12

KEN CARVER

On Balance 13

DANIEL H.R. FISHMAN

Aunt Stella Said 13

ANNA CITRINO

The Edge of December 14

DRUDE CLARK

See How It Works 15

JEENI CRISCENZO

Sea of Beige 16

DIANE FUNSTON

Coming Clean 18

TRISH DUGGER

Tale of the Lost Trail 19

WILLIAM GALASSO

Heisler Park 20

KERRY SHAWN KEYS

The Curse 21

2

HEATHER CIRCLE

Dear Pain 22

PAUL FITZGERALD

Penitent Nail 23

HALE GENTRY

Natural 24

ANNA A. GASAWAY

After Walt Whitman 25

DIANA GRIGGS

Am I Ready for My Final Bow 26

JILL G. HALL

Cosmic Reverie 27

AMEERAH HOLLIDAY

A.B.S. 28

LOIS P. JONES

Murmur-Nation 29

CHERIE KEPHART

Only 30

DEBORAH P. KOLODJI

December Streets 30

SERETTA MARTIN

I Attend a Poetry Annual Reading 31

SHARON LAABS

A Still Life 32

SYLVIA LEVINSON

Return 33

PETER LAUTZ

Paradigm Shift, Twist and Shout 34

SARAH SLEEPER

BTS World 35

KAREN K. LEWIS

Cartwheels Over Invisible Borderlines 36

CAROLE F. STABLER

In Transit 36

BETSY LITTRELL

In Line at Trader Joe’s 37

FRED LONGWORTH

House for Sale 38

KEN LUBER

The Knee of Love 39

3

PATRICIA J. MACHMILLER

Lila to Her Son (Grown) Visiting from

California as He Sets Out to Mow Her Lawn 40

Eons 40

SARAH MARSH REBELO

Rain Music 41

MARY O’CONNOR

What Does the Moon Think of It All? 42

MARGARET S. MCKERROW

Knowing 43

SARAH ROSE MCMAHON

America 44

TANNER SMITH

with my father in 45

FALLON KIRA

The Blue of the Pacific 46

ROBERT MEHRYAR

crossing old bridge 46

KATHY O’FALLON

Eulogy 47

ANGELA PANKOSKOY

Sing Your Song 48

BARBARA SCHELBERT

Sounds I Hear 49

ROBERT MEHRYAR

glassy pond 49

Susan Rogers

Nothing Yet Was Missing 50

LORRAINE PADDEN

morning breaks 51

D.S. WALDMAN

On Gentrification 52

PRARTHO SERENO

Neruda’s Abandoned Study 53

KEN WALDMAN

Frost Place 54

SUSAN D. WALTER

Prayer to ISIS 55

SHANNON WILLS

Drivel 56

4

LYNNE THOMPSON

Moons Every Mourning 56

CHRISTIAN WOLL

Vape Flavors 57

ADRIÁN ARANCIBIA

it will happen at city lights 58

DEBORAH P. KOLODJI

withered mums 60

JUAN FELIPE HERRERA

Chorus Migrante 2019 61

ROBT O’SULLIVAN

Pekin Café Chop Suey 62

SUZANNE AURILIO

Upstate New York 64

JEFF WALT

Drama Queen 65

MARY SOMERS

The Body 66

FRANCESCA MOTTLA

Summer Harvest 68

SHANNON TATE JONAS

The First Word You Think When You Wake 69

SUNNY REY

Outstretch of Roads 70

ANDY PALASCIANO

Scamper! 71

CLAUDIA POQUOC

The Way It Really Is 72

MARGE PIERCY

Sometimes a Great Blow 73

KAREN KENYON

Stumbling Over Stars 74

R. MONK

A Personal History of Sorrow 75

DANIEL J. PALASCIANNO

In a Land 76

KATH ABELA WILSON

Peace at Hand 77

MARTIN KLEIN

At the Target Check Out Counter 78

5

IRIS LIU

Exercise 80

CYNTHIA KOSCIUCZYK

San Diego, Emerald City 81

RICHARD MARCELLUS

Wondrance 81

RAE ROSE

a black cat made of sutures 82

R. T. SEDGWICK

Love is a Leap Off the Third Dot of an Ellipsis 83

NANCY SHIFFRIN

Tilt 84

MAYA SKAFF

Memories 85

R. D. SKAFF

Cracks 86

Like a Carwash 86

PAUL SZYMANSKI

Somewhere Over the Long Beach Airport, 1960s 87

LIZ SZYMANSKI

Stained Glass 88

PETER BERGQUIST

Glacier 89

YING WU

Facts 90

DIANE WAKOSKI

Whatever happened to Jim Armstrong

and Florence Verducci? 91

AL ZOLYNAS

American Haiku Sentences 94

KEN BUHR

Dragon Training 95

JAN BEATTY

The Fire Roads 96

ANT BLACK

A Poem for Mauna Kea 98

LAURA BOSS

How My Parents Met 100

MICHELLE CHEN

The Flag 102

6

AUTUMN OSBORNE

Dad 103

JANET FOSTER

Spinal Stanzas 104

SUMMER NOEL

Minimum Wage 105

KENNEDY GAMMAGE

Illegal Street Racing on Burbank Blvd 106

SHARON ELISE

She, Her and I 107

MARIA MAZZIOTTI GILLAN

I Can Still See My Mother 108

ESTELLE GILSON

Spring 110

EMILY GRAHAM

Language 111

Break Point 111

Sugar Diluted 111

BETTHIA MAE HERN

Good-for-Nothing Sausage 112

DEMREE MCGHEE

Chewin' Girl 113

NIAYH MOORE

Yellow 114

JOE MUSACCO

(untitled) 115

HELEN NGUYEN

Comfort 116

LIXIA PENA

A Mi Pedacito 117

IAN RADCLIFFE

I will always love this child 118

REYMOND RADOC

Polaroid Originals 119

YASMEEN RAMIREZ

You don’t have to explain 120

MIKAELI WICOFF

(untitled) 121

BRANDON CESMAT

Every Word Is Not a Bullet 122

7

TERRY HERTZLER

Encounters with a Creature

I Had Previously Considered Mythological 125

JOYCE JACOBO

Glass Butterfly 126

JIM D. BABWE

Laundry Trauma, Cotton Drama 127

KAYLA KRUT

Dog Beach Sunrise/set 128

CHERYL LATIF

umbra 129

TED BURKE

Father Comes Home from Chicago 130

MARIT ANDERSON

To My Friend Who Got Canned 131

MUKUNDA RAMARAO

In the San Diego Hills 132

AUDREY PECK

Rain 133

ROGER APLON

The Spoiled Child Tinkers with His Toys

(To Be Read Aloud with Increasing Emphasis on Tone & Volume) 134

JAN BEATON

The Pity of New Aliens 136

IGOR GOLDKIND

Poetry Therapy 138

CLIFTON KING

Down PCH on a '59 Triumph 139

CHRISTI CHAFFEE

The Night Shift 140

CASEY DERENGOWSKI

Welcome Home? 143

MARY GAINES

For What It’s Worth 144

JOAN GERSTEIN

Before I Read Seventeen Magazine 146

ANNA JENKINS ZAPPOLI

All About Nonna Lucia 148

ANNETTE FRIEND

Over the Precipice 150

8

LESLIE HENDRICKSON-BARAL

(untitled) 151

ANGELICA PAZ BARRERA

Fury 152

LESLIE HENDRICKSON-BARAL

Threads of Betrayal 152

LESLIE CLARK

Quiet 154

ROGER FUNSTON

When You Go Away 155

JEAN TADDONIO

In Betweens 156

SUZANNE O’CONNELL

Masked Child with A Doll, NYC, 1961, Diane Arbus 157

WILLIAM HARRY HARDING

Ding Dong Elmo 158

LISA RATNAVIRA

Gardens of Prayers 159

CLAUDIA ARAGON

Chicken Soup Serenade 160

KATHY DERENGOWSKI

Identity Crisis 162

MATTHEW CHRISTIANSCHER

Licorice Pizza 163

JESSE GONZALES

Why is Buddha Laughing 164

GAYLE O’KEY

To the Spider in My Kitchen 165

PENNY PERRY

For My Son on His Divorce 166

NANCY FOLEY

High Five 167

MARY LENORE QUIGLEY

The Side of the Road 168

SAM HENDRIAN

Lost Echo 169

KATHY KEOGH

Cemetery Life 170

Pompeii 170

SANDY CARPENTER

Fishing – for a Friend 171

9

BARBARA MIMS DEMING

I Would Bring You Lavender 172

C.V. WILL

The Lost Art 173

KATE PORTER

The Blue Light Coffin Shop 174

MARY ANNE TRAUSE

The Whole Is More Than the Sum of its Parts

but the Parts Create the World 175

LIZZIE WANN

A Prayer of Relentless Light 176

• THE KOWIT • INTRODUCTION 178

LIST OF HONOREES 181

THE STEVE KOWIT POETRY PRIZE 2019

GREG BELL

Memories of Coronado 182

FIRST RUNNER UP

GAIL ENTREKIN

For My Blind Man 184

SECOND RUNNER UP

JESSICA TURCAT

Tukanukaru 185

HONORABLE MENTION

JAYNE BROWN

Ode to Hip-Hop 188

CARRIE CALLAWAY

Smash an Avocado 190

KARLA CORDERO

Self Portrait as Andy Ruiz, the First

Mexican-American Heavy Weight Champion 192

CHRISTOPHER CORDRY

La Dolce Vita 195

NANCY DIMSDALE

the return 196

FRANK DIPALERMO

The Danger of Moonglow 197

Hope 198

10

TRISH DUGGER

Cloaks 199

GEORGE DREW

Richard Hugo, I Met You Only Once 200

JONATHAN GREENHAUSE

Constant 202

JAMES EVANS

Outhouse Glass 204

VALARIE HASTINGS

Sunshower Over the Rappahannock

at My Friend Ann’s River House 205

REBEKAH HEANEY

Scrabbling 206

KENNETH JENSEN

Wrestling with an Angel 207

MATT MILLER

A Modest Surmisal 208

SYLVIA LEVINSON

All the Way 210

SUZANNE O'CONNELL

Chances Are 211

Lassie Has Anger Issues 212

GREG RAPPLEYE

Walking Along the Service Road that Borders the

Asparagus Field, Not Far Beyond Asylum Creek 214

LYNDA RIESE

Elegy for a Friend 215

• NATIVE POETS • SIENNAMAY GOFF-LINTON

Covering Up 218

Raised on the Rez 218

CHRISTIAN CAGEY

Life & Death 219

AKWALIIMAY AMBRIZ CHAIPOS

Bird Dancing 219

CODY

If You Really Knew Me 220

CONNER CASH

I'm a Person Who 221

BRANDON MORETTI

On My Bike 221

11

COOPER

We Are We 222

MARRIANNE DIAZ

About Her 223

SUNLA

This One Spice Person 224

MADDIE LOPEZ-LEYVA

I Am 226

CADENCE HOWARD

My Culture 226

YAWAYWISH RENTERIA

Nice and Naughty 227

TARAH PARADA DONOHUE

I Used To Be, But Now I Am 227

DANIEL VARELA

There's Only One of Me 228

NAKAYLAH

My Mom 228

YOTHENGEEMAL

I Don't Know? 229

DESSALYN RIOS

My Culture 229

LILLIAN OZUNA

My Spirits 230

OSHIILA CHAVEZ-NELSON

My Native Culture 231

OSHIILA CHAVEZ-NELSON

My Native Culture 232

D. LORRAINE SANCHEZ

When Coyote Comes to Visit 233

Standing Rock 236

• POEMS FROM JUVENILE HALL• 241 - 284

• POEMS FROM VETERANS• THOMAS CALABRESE

You Might 286

LAURA ELIZABETH CASEY

An Answer 287

DAVID CLARK

Terry 288

12

WILLIAM CONLEY

No Fear 289

Mercy is for the Weak 289

DAVID CONDREY

Pledge of Allegiance 290

Your life 291

ELDER

All 292

CARLOS ELLINGTON

Down and Out 293

SUSAN J. FARESE

A Light Dimmed 294

JOHN GORDA

Not Me 295

JARROD JAMES

Cupid 295

ANTHONY A. LOBUE

Ode to Valentina the Cat 296

BILLIEKAI BOUGHTON

Planting a Teenager 297

SHAUN MORAND

Writing a Sestina is Easier Than Writing How I Feel 298

ROBERT MANSUETO

My love, I am Yours 299

DAVID LANGENHORST

Paradigm 300

TJ OVIES

Pragmatism 301

ANTHONY PETRELLI

Hummingbird 302

WILLIAM PHILLIPS

Saint Monica’s Stone 303

TAMMY REYNA

(untitled) 304

ARTURO TORRALBA

Texas Wildfire 305

Sand Castles 305

AMBER ROBINSON

Criatura 306

13

JONATHAN TRAVELSTEAD

Lost Books 308

CHARLES WALTON

Lucid dreaming 309

• SLAM POETRY• FFOORREEWWOORRDD 331122

TRISH DUGGER

Nana Rules 313

JESS ZIMMERMANN

Lemonade 314

COREY TAFT

It’s All Around 316

TRISH DUGGER

Levi Strauss & Co 318

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

For Christopher 319

Remember Betty Halbreich 320

JIM D. BABWE

Complete Instructions Not Included 321

• POEMS 2• GLORIA KEELEY

The Ninth Life 324

SUSAN MORRISON

Grief 325

DENNIS RHODES

The Massage 326

CURRAN JEFFERY

Flooding Memories 326

STEVE MCDONALD

Pain Body 327

DAVID RUGELY

My Yellow Rose 328

AMANDA MATTIMOE

Sutured 329

JOANNE SHARP

On Clear Communication 330

MAI-LON GITTELSOHN

Pruning the Hardenbergia 331

MARTE RILEY

To a Non-existent Lover 332

14

FRANK KEARNS

Two Old Men 332

CICELY ZHU

I am from 333

HEATHER PEASE

How to Give a Flower 334

JOSÉ ENRIQUE MEDINA

Viejito 335

JONATHAN YUNGKANS

We Should All Get Back to the Night That Bore Us 336

JOYCE RUGELY

Rare Bird 337

HARRY GRISWOLD

In Your Room of Unicorns 338

ED GAIN

Rhyme 339

TERRY SPOHN

Nothing to Fear 339

ANN MAIOROFF

Ode to Vanessa Cardui 340

RACHEL BRENDA MANDEL

Divine Whisperings 341

SUSAN TAYLOR

A Church in Tijuana 342

CHI VARNADO

Bird Taking Off 343

TERRY MACRAE

Preparing Manuscripts 201 344

URSULA BRAVO-ROSSAINZ BAEZ

An Ode to Mental Health 345

BINGH

Unbearable StraightWhiteMaleness in MFAs:

Welcome to Fabulous Minority’s Critique 346

CAROL MOSCRIP

I can’t read anymore 347

MOLLY LARSON COOK

An Elvis Stamp for the IRS 348

ALAN ARCHER

Needle 349

ASHLEY PREVO

What Darkness Said to Edison 350

15

DAVID HEITMILLER

Old Graveyard 351

GINNY SHORT

Swimming in Air 352

GRANT QUACKENBUSH

Overdose 353

JENNA R WHEATON

Antarctica 354

JOANN JOHNSON

Silence 357

JON WESICK

What I Imagine a New England Poem Must Be Like 358

SHANEEV PRIOLKAR

Mirror 359

JONI MAYER

On the Occasion of Pressing Large Rectangular

Yellow Post-It Notes All Over My Front Door 360

ANTHONY AZZARITO

Audio Tactics 361

RISA GOLDBERG

How Do Your Pants Stay Up? 362

ADAM GREENFIELD

The Tattered Ends of Truth 364

DEBORAH RAMOS

Summering in the Desert 366

JOHN WILLES

All My Relations (Mitakuye Oyasin) 367

JAN BEATTY

Containment 368

MARIA MAZZIOTTI GILLAN

The Day the Sky Fell 369

EVA GARCIA MAYERS

Days of Golden 370

GEORGE DREW

Tell Me, Charles Bukowski 372

JASON KAMDAR

Painted Desert 374

JIMMY JAZZ

small talk 376

16

TERRY MACRAE

Last Phone Call 380

Have You Ever. . . 381

LESLIE BEEBE

Finding Out 382

KIMBERLY DARK

Yoga Therapy 384

TED WASHINGTON

The Pit 385

MICHAEL KLAM

Rest for the Wicked 386

GILL SOTU

In the Quiet Moments 387

M. SCOTT DOUGLASS

A42N81 388

ROBERT HALLECK

Kirk Douglas Sings and Dances 389

DEBBIE HALL

Looking for Leopards in Trees 390

ANDREA CARTER

Carrion Crows, Tokyo 391

JUDY REEVES

Widow’s Song 392

PETER KRUMBACH

Overthrow 392

MICHAEL MARK

The Joke 393

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

To a Daughter 394

CHRISTOPHER CORDRY

Ghandruk 395

AMERICA SALVATORE

Short Stay 396

NAN BREEDLOVE

Fahrenheit 134 397

RON LAUDERBACH

Lying to My Grandson 398

MIKE HEDRICK

New World Symphony 399

SHERI CRANE

Fire tree and the indigenous grasses 400

17

ELIZABETH YAHN WILLIAMS

In Praise of Golden Pilgrims 401

WALTER STEPAHIN

Used Glove Museum 401

PENNY PERRY

The Lake of Swans 402

OB LAUREATE LLOYD

The Ancient Mariner Goes to the Wedding 404

MELISSA MCKINSTRY

At the Medical Supply Pharmacy, and Life Before 405

RICHARD MATTA

Boulders and Trees 406

BILL VARTNAW

Memory 407

LISA RATNAVIRA

Sweet Frenzy 408

JOSEPH BUEHLER

Cul-de-sac 409

SYDNEY DOYLE

Fox Call 410

C.V. WILL

e. e. 411

KATIE TURNER

Even Now 412

RON SALISBURY

Anticipation of Change 413

CHRIS ERNEST NELSON

A Call from Nowhere 414

REG E GAINES

Bluesicians Blues 415

PAUL SZYMANSKI

For Grace 417

JILL G. HALL

Does He Know the Secrets of the Universe? 418

AL ZOLYNAS

The Guilty Tree 419

BRUCE GORDEN

Foggy Notions 420

DEE ALLEN

Not Invisible [Ceremonies] 421

18

BARBARA E. PLOURD

Night 423

LIZZIE WANN

Merrily, Merrily 424

BRYAN RUTKOSKY

Whole? 426

SHARON ELISE

1955: I Come Alive 427

JANICE ALPER

The Scent of Heat 428

KEN BUHR

Reconnoitering Team 429

SUZANNE O’CONNELL

Whispers in The Dark 430

SHANNON TATE JONAS

The Derelict Orchard 431

CHRIS ERNEST NELSON

Being Wrong 432

IGOR GOLDKIND

The Stars 433

CAROLYN MOGAVERO

She. . .The Sea 434

TED BURKE

Love Poem 435

JOSEPH MILOSCH

Late Afternoon

in the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe 436

DELAYNE HARMON

My Grief 437

BARBARA MIMS DEMING

Out of the Ashes 438

JAMES M. MCCOLLUM

What the Deal Is 439

ELIJAH SHAW

Lost Souls 440

FRAN FINLEY

Twitter Trolls 441

JERIKA CARMEN DALEO

The Fig Tree 442

RAYMOND LOWELL GRANDER

American Education 444

19

GARY WINTERS

DI 445

JIM MORENO

Lower the Ceiling: Raise the Cellar 446

PHYLLIS MESHULAM

jokes 447

KAREN KENYON

Stone 448

MARGE PIERCY

War of the Old 449

GERALD VANDERPOT

Agon 450

J.K. WALLEN

La Lomita, Little White Chapel on the Hill 451

BARBARA HUNTINGTON

One Hundred Twenty 452

MARJORIE PEZZOLI

Salida 453

DAVID LANGENHORST

Voices 454

GAYLE O’KEY

Memory Song 455

JEYSICIA CONWAY

Table For 4 456

CHRIS WAKEFIELD

Spinning Dogs 457

CRYSTOPHVER R

While Backs Were Turned 458

JAY M. MOWER

Lesson at the Ice Cream Parlor 459

MICHAEL TURNER

In My Little Ritual 460

KATHY BLOOM

Tales for Bedtime 461

CARRIE DANIELSON

There, and Then Not 462

GARY WINTERS

Méjico 463

JOSEPH MILOSCH

I Give Back 464

20

DEBORAH P. KOLODJI

Perseid Sky 465

JANELL STRUBE

There should have been 57 candles 466

BETHEL SWIFT

#NotAllRichPeople 467

LESLIE HODGE

Bonco 468

JAMES M. MCCOLLUM

Last Conversation. . .Hissing Foam, Slice of Moon 471

EUSI KWAYANA

2019 Mother’s Day Lines; News of the Woman 472

EDUARDO DURAN

A Vision in Saffron 474

REG E GAINES

Riding with Death 475

ROBERT MEHRYAR

first hiss of rain 477

DEE ALLEN

Dishonour 478

DEB NORDLIE

Finally: The Denouement 480