Homage To Azrael, The Angel Of Death
by Theresa C. Gaynord
Theresa likes to write about matters of self-inflection and personal experiences. She likes to write about matters of an out-of body, out-of-mind state, as well as subjects of an idyllic, pagan nature and the occult. Theresa writes horror, as well as concrete gritty and realistic dramas. Theresa is said to be a witch and a poet. (within the horror writing community).
Warm was the nightingale in boasting intimacy,
black was the sky, carcased in a tomb amid the
graves of spiry buildings dwarfed by circumjacent
lands.
Mindful of his dread command, vindicated, un adieu’d
Azrael enjailed in a pitiless wire of reflective
beams snatched from Hell, blasts through the eternal
night.
On his tempest four thousand wings, four faces pen
whatever Fate records as harmonies ricochet, leaving
no intimate word or personal trace behind ail-stricken
mankind.
Flesh perishes, the hour itself ruled from birth time.
Linen sheets are spread down draped around white
beginnings so small, self wrapped beyond Earth’s bounds;
silent.
Flocks and herds chilled numb with consuming fear,
lipped through rhymes of psalms, “What doest thou here?”
Shivering footsteps follow his melodic tune as human orbits,
pilgrimage.
All musick breathes its last. All magick is an enraptured soul,
and the heart holds sweet remembrances, a prophetic song,
As Azrael’s oracle beats, holding your life’s blood at His
call.
Covid Poems by Carrie Magness Radna
Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Carrie Magness Radna is an archival audiovisual cataloger at the New York Public Library, a singer, a lyricist-songwriter, and a poet who loves to travel. Her poems have previously appeared in the Oracular Tree, Tuck Magazine, Muddy River Poetry Review, First Literary Review-East, Mediterranean Poetry, Shot Glass Journal, Walt’s Corner, Polarity e-Magazine, The Poetic Bond (VIII &IX), and The spirit, it travels: an anthology of transcendent poetry (Cosmographia: published August 3, 2019) and will be published in Nomad’s Choir, Jerry Jazz Musician and Cajun Mutt Press. Her first chapbook, Conversations with dead composers at Carnegie Hall (Flutter Press) was published on January 18, 2019, and Remembering you as I go walking(Boxwood Star Press) was published on August 23, 2019. Her upcoming poetry collection, Hurricanes never apologize, will be published by Luchador Press. She won third prize for “The tunnel” (Category: Words on the Wall: All-Genre Prompt) at the 69th annual Philadelphia Writers’ Conference (2017). She also won 12th place “Lily (no. 48 of Women’s names sensual series)” by the 2018 Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards. She is a member of the Greater New York Music Library Association (GNYMLA), and is a member of the New York Poetry Forum, Parkside Poets, Riverside Poets, Brownstone Poets and Nomad’s Choir. When she’s not performing classical choral works with Riverside Choral Society or New Year’s Eve performances with the New York Festival Singers, or writing art song lyrics with her choir buddies, or traveling, she lives with her husband Rudolf in Manhattan.
PAPER
My man doesn’t get
that we might not
have any toilet paper
very soon; our
worm moon
may be made of paper—
maybe it’s only make-believe,
but will he believe in me?
There’s pictures in the paper
of empty shelves
everywhere
(Whole Foods is full
of fools; the paper
is running out; the paper
shopping bags now cost
5 cents each (NYC standard
pricing, bitches!))
but he doesn’t get it.
I’m stranded at home
(but still well)
at home for 2 weeks;
all NYC libraries are closed;
the paperbacks
need to be protected
as well as the
younger & elderly patrons
no positive victims
in Denison, Texas
(yet)
according to my mother
(what about Oklahoma, OK?!),
but everyday
she goes to Wal-Mart
& obsessively checks out
the toilet paper aisle,
to see the damage
“We have two rolls left,”
my man says,
confident we will be all right.
Will that be enough
to ride the proverbial
storm out?
Starbucks social isolation
All the chairs have been cleared away.
No visitors are welcome at Starbucks.
Virus no. 19
(not named after a popular Mexican beer)
had partied too hard in China & Italy,
now have stuck its head stateside
& ROTW (rest of the world), troubling
the waters darkly. Now, the still sober ones
are dealing with medical, political &
economical storms; many are grounded
at home after closings of airports, arenas,
auditoriums, offices, schools, & public parks.
All public gatherings are prohibited & discouraged—
we now practice social isolation,
protecting ourselves with soap & water
& standing 3+ feet away from the nearest stranger.
Do face marks really work at all?
At least we can get our drinks
at Starbucks still,
but only on the go.
Covid Poetry by Mike Zone
Mike Zone resides beyond the pines…the author of Void Beneath the Skin and A Farewell to Big Ideas, a frequent contributor to Alien Buddha Press and Mad Swirl, his work has been featured in: Horror Sleaze Trash, Piker Press, Synchronized Chaos and Cult Culture magazine. He wears ridiculous sunglasses to hide his insomnia stricken eyes.
The Exhibit
There’s pennies on the floor
bones in the ceiling
a black veil all around
An original manuscript
dead romance
in a virus ridden world
“love” in the time of Corona
all we have
lust
the false conception of enchantment
they call it romance
if you can believe there was once in love in the time of cholera
when humanity had not quite outgrown its cosmic infancy
perhaps you can sit down on this here barstool
and consider the simulation
before you take a drink
there’s this number’s game we’re all forced to participate in that pervades our thinking
the conception of being
it’s all about the metrics
the social life you believe you have
dating to find someone “real”
with the friends you congregate to meet
at just the right places
all become distraction
a mere distraction of simulation
forced into metrics
distraction
like a bit of shock therapy
and we all wonder why things fall apart…
romance in the age of Corona you know it’s true i
n those deepest remotest moments when in bed
(dead)
with a stranger
or the one you think you love
who may as well be a stranger
in the dismal inauthentic living of it all
give us your fear and your power
we’ll give you a new form of social security to abide by
and if ya’ can’t hit them metrics
maybe you just weren’t meant to be
but don’t worry
we’ve all got a lot more of you to burn away
with perception and pills
Bacteriophobia by Christopher T. Dabrowski
Note about the author: BOOKS in USA: “Escape” (2019 – Royal Hawaiian Press), “Anomaly” (2020 – Royal Hawaiian Press) BOOKS in Spain:”La fuga” (2019 – Royal Hawaiian Press), “Anomalia” (2019 – Royal Hawaiian Press) BOOKS in Poland: “Deathbirth” (2008 – Armoryka publishing house), “Anima vilis” (2010 – Initium publishing house), “Grobbing” (2012 – Novae Res publishing house), “Deathbirth and other stories” (2012 & 2017 – Agharta & Armoryka publishing house), “Z życia Dr Abble” (2013 – Agharta publishing house), “Orgazmokalipsa” (2016 – Alternatywne publishing house), “Anomalia” (2016 – Forma publishing house), “Ucieczka” (2017 – Dom Horroru publishing house) & “Nie w inność” (2019 – Waspos publishing house) ANTHOLOGY in: USA, Poland, Russia, Germany. And he published his stories in the following magazines: PLAYBOY (Slovak edition), USA, England, Czech Republic, Russia, Brasil, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Mexico
Jedrek was terribly afraid of bacteria.
Although he couldn’t see it he could imagine it.
Terrible beasts with bumps, fumbles and cilia! invisible threat lurking in wait.
He always scrubbed his hands thoroughly.
For half an hour or longer.
Then he wiped them off carefully.
He had nightmares that he couldn’t get clean, that he scrubs his hands to the blood, meat and bones.
When he woke up today, the whole world was drowning in soap.
A giant paw came from the sky and started scrubbing.
It scrubbed and cleaned civilization, removed human bacteria from the epidermis of the Earth.
Art by Ann Privateer
Ann Privateer is a poet, artist, and photographer. Some of her poems have appeared in Poetry Now, Sacramento Anthology: 100 Poems, and some of her photography has appeared in Third Wednesday to name a few.
Wrapped up in White Coats with a Smile
by Scott Thomas Outlar
Scott Thomas Outlar lives and writes in the suburbs outside of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Selections of his poetry have been translated into Afrikaans, Albanian, Bengali, Dutch, French, Italian, Kurdish, Persian, and Serbian. His sixth book, Of Sand and Sugar, was released in 2019 through Cyberwit Press. He hosts a podcast, Songs of Selah, that airs weekly on 17Numa Radio and features interviews with contemporary poets, novelists, artists, musicians, and health enthusiasts. More about the show and Outlar’s work can be found at 17Numa.com.
A cold medicine fog in the head
served over the counter with a kiss
still pales in comparison to the tryst
enjoyed while dancing with drugs
during our roaring twenties
when prescriptions were never sought
because they could be filled
by friends without degrees
to alleviate the suffering and agony
temporarily one dose at a time.
It’s not the same game being played any longer
in these middle-aged years of wisdom
when detached peace has been achieved within
even while tragedies befall the world at large.
Double-edged crosses and encoded helixes
scratch the surface of DNA with a scalpel
to trigger the gene reflex of renunciation in cells
as sanctioned programs drift across television screens.
Woe be to the harbinger of chaos
who arrives on the scene and discovers
that the prophecy he’d been tasked to announce
already came to pass without much effort.
Fallen cities mirror the burning blood
sloshing with designer chemicals concocted in labs
that are pushed to birth a placated future
where pretty neon lights pulse us all to sleep.
Quarantini Porcupine by Red Focks
Red Focks is an American author, publisher, and folk artist. The 30-year-old lives in Phoenix Arizona with his wife, where he operates Alien Buddha Press. Red enjoys art with undertones of absurdism, cheerful nihilism, and rebellion. In addition to his contributions to Alien Buddha Press, Red has been featured by 17 Numa, Fishbowl Press, Ramingo’s Porch, Horror Sleaze Trash, Winedrunk Press, Transcendent Zero Press, Nixes Mate Pub, Rust Belt Press, Madness Muse Press, The Raw Art Review; his novel ‘Haight’ was published in 2018 by Cajun Mutt Press, and his short story collection ‘The Abandon’ was released in 2019 via Concrete Mist Press, whew his 2020 novella “The Bloody Waste” was also published. Red is one half of the art team ‘Pseudonym Lastname’ and is the head writer of the graphic novel ‘American Antihero”. Red’s other books include ‘Duffy Street & Other Dubious Incidents’, ‘The Philanthropist’s Suicide’, ’36 Haikus and a Horror Story’ and ‘Dead Celebrities’,
Alien Buddha Press 