MasticadoresUsa // Editor: Barbara Leonhard //

“Stargazing” by Yongbo Ma

The first Voice: All of you, your loves, hates and thoughts,in the eyes of the stars, they’re meaningless, not even dust,even the Earth, where you place all your hopes,is just a speck of dust, dancing briefly in the light, vanishing without a trace.The second Voice: Get lost, go to the stars, pick any one,you devil, whether…

“Murphy” by Lynn White

Murphy was a poodle.He didn’t choose to be a poodleand he certainly didn’t want to be a poodle,but he was born that way.It happens.He hid it well.No one knew.Well, no one would have knownexcept for the one time each yearwhen he was taken to a poodle parlourand given a shampoo,(oh, the horror of it)and a…

“Brave Words, Bright Hearts” by Anjetta Williams-Brown

Dedicated to the Youth Poet Refugees in Dzaleka Refugee CampMalawi, AfricaIn an unfamiliar place A place with no real nameIt doesn’t look like homeIt doesn’t feel like homeBut it is your new homeYour resilience begins to shineLike the sunshine brilliant brightWith talented voices, strong and clear Your words tell a loud storyYour words show strengthYour words show…

“For Another Tomorrow” by Supatra Sen

For Another Tomorrow…Visions of lofty mountains green dalesSparkling rivulets mystic forestsWishes of being the eternal wandererFilled with moments of gratitudeMy cup brimmeth over…Just when clouds beckonAnd sunshine cleanses all bindingsDuty’s clarion callWork…dependents…needsMountains merge with mounting promisesForests disappear in serpentine tasksThe dust, the chaos, the noiseAre all my ownI cannot barter them For that elusive blissIt…

“The Human Thing to Do” by Steven Bruce

FOR HERMANWinter knocks,the cold seeps in.A small bug clingsto the door frame.At night it scuttles closer.You’re suspicious, need to knowwhat it’s up to.You read about it.Conifer seed bug.Harmless to humans.Eats nuts and seeds.You put out a crushed almond,a little water,and name him Herman.Each night he sits with you,crawls over your cardigan,across the laptop screen,while you…

“When I Leave You” by Nolo Segundo

When I leave you,It won’t be out of anger,It won’t be out of jealousy.It won’t be for another woman,And it won’t be for freedom.When I leave you, It won’t be with grace—It will be hard, hard to do.I could try to fight it—But with what power?Taken quickly or slowly, I’ll still be taken Out of…

“Rilke’s epitaph: Humankind” by Debasis Mukhopadhyay

if Rilke was not an autumn leafdrowned in bluehis Godturning self to immortalitysitting on a walland Gaza ablushwith a brushstrokethe pigment about humankindlonging for beautythe soil the rosethe stilled clouds confined in bonesno sleep for themselves aloneCopyright © 2026 Debasis MukhopadhyayAll Rights Reserved Debasis Mukhopadhyay is the author of the chapbook kyrie eleison or all robins…

Art Show for Surrealists by Ken Tomaro

The medium is acrylic paint, oil pastels, charcoal pencil, ink, and a couple of rub-on transfers. Copyright © 2026 Ken TomaroAll Rights Reserved Until recently, Ken Tomaro never considered writing poetry. Not when he slid from the womb. Not when he felt the first tingle of teen hormones. Not after he got married, divorced, moved…

“Present on a spring late morning” by Peter A Witt

I sit looking at a skyfilled with barn swallows,darting, here then there,catching mosquitoes, thenreturning to their mud neststo feed restless nestlings,tiny mouths begging for food.The sky is bluish, tree leavesare crinkled from too much summer,like pages in an old, over-read book.Bumps on my skin verifythat the mosquitoes are plentiful,each bite itching like memoriesof an old…

Poems by Strider Marcus Jones

DOING NOTHING doing nothingis a wayof doing somethingwith the dayif you leave it open. just think,what was, has beena long drinkfrom the same streamand you are not broken. love flown and fledshared who you are,happened, was saidbut only so farsound spoken.~~~~Base i can be cool baseor a fiddle graced-dependin’on what mood i’m in-but heavenis sevenpiano notesvibrating…

“Magic Moment” by Gopal Lahiri

I walk near the dry falls a few times, looking atall these- the perfect scribble on the orange leavesa patch of white clouds, a blue sky, a tiny fall leafdrops on the white stream.I must walk over the water. Light flickers through the cracks of dailyness,the smallest birds are flying among the trees,when I am…

“Mining Wisdom” by Cindy Georgakas

Mining Wisdom Time like water slips through my fingers likethe river that runs through me, waking me to muddywaters that run deep, oscillating, churning, cleansing, cracking light on what’s been buried- planting my feet sinkinginto the unknown, where metal is mined.Jewels shimmer in the light of the moon as sediment settles. Each day, a new…

“Unnatural Curls (shadorma prose)” by Robbie Cheadle

When I was a little girl and my sister, Catherine, was a very little girl, my hair was as straight as a ramrod. Catherine had a cloud of blonde curls and I had a sheet of straight blonde hair that would not hold a curl despite mom’s best attempts. And try she did. When my…

Poetry by Ken Tomaro

I dreamtI woke up in the middle of the night with the number 4 in my head. It felt like a sign, so I made myself a note to buy some lottery tickets. The next drawing was on the 14th. What more of a sign did I need? The 14th came and as I passed…

Two Haiku by Matthew Friday

Child’s butterfly kite streams in the air below a vulture.A dust devil lastsjust long enough to be seen-I’m 50 years old.Copyright © 2026 Matthew FridayAll Rights Reserved Matthew James Friday is a British-born writer and teacher. He has had many poems published in the US and international journals. His first chapbook, ‘The Residents,’ was published…

Poems about Loss and Mourning by Nolcha Fox

Last BitsHer shadow swellsto fill the dock,to guard her backfrom burn.Soon enough, the light will wane,and fall will roarthe brittle leavesto ground.She opens armsto hug the warmth,what’s leftof summer’s end.~~WaterHe was a torrent,a deluge,a downpour,a wall of water,a waterfall,unstoppable,untameable.He swept her away,pulled her under.He was a forcethat left her breathless.He tossed her aside,a shipwrecked distress.She…

“do the dead know they are dead?” by MK Kuol

mother―now a foam of her younger self―sits on the tipof her tongue,a slab of hope eating into itselfas her footstools& with light-worn fingersun-petal the eyesof a bat-blind godbalancing on its headat the hem of unremembered timea glassy scale,the size of a fingernail,unscales from its eyes& mother uncasts,mutatesinto a winged mirageswirlinguntoward herselftowards the unbodied roofwhere stars,burdened…

“Before the Squirrels” by Nick Allison

I was up before the squirrels this morning,before the sun, too.On the front porch, all is quiet,the way early mornings tend to be.In cupped hands I catch a momentthat refuses to be counted,steady enough to cradle,gentle enough to releasewhat isn’t mine to keep.A butterfly teases a northwest breeze,a tethered promise of flannel and fleece.Its wings…

“Why the Original Ladies of Tuesday Night Scrabble Changed Their Meetings to Alice’s Room Without Telling Anyone” by Luanne Castle

Joyce held the well-thumbed Scrabble dictionary she had shared with her husband since their kids were young. It contained all the rules and allowable words. Now, with no one left to play with, she faced the women in the library on the first floor. Alice and Myrtle shared an iPad and a jellybean bowl between…

“Homewards Bound” by Supatra Sen

When paths diverge Dust gathersAnd forevers become fleetingWhen passion turns to mere dutyTime to return soulwardsMy very ownHome…The old old homeHousing my multiple versionsThe innocence of childhoodImpulse of teenageSolitude of later years…The quaint balconyThe room on the roofThe solitary armchairThe scent of old booksThe gentle echoing greensWith the large window Through which the moon peeps…