MasticadoresUsa // Editor: Barbara Leonhard //

“Forgive Us, the Poets” by Smitha Vishwanath

Forgive us, the PoetsWe begin pouring our thoughtsAs if we were throwing water over a raging fireAs if our words were a balmin case of a disaster -natural or manmadepersonal or public -That would soothe the wounded, the lost,the broken, the frightened, the grieving,like it were a spell that would reverse the chaos,nullify the damage,and…

“Rogues and Their Monologues” by Santosh Bakaya

The Rogues and their Monologues Engrossed in their egocentric pleasures, they galloped on their high horses,mouthing narcissistic monologues- the rogues! Clip- Clip- Clip Clop. Looking at these cantering horsesburdened with overdressed monoliths, an old beggar under a gnarled treefell deep in thought, a mongrel close by.He listened to these half- crazed megalomaniacs. Unfazed, he sang…

“Work Is a Scary Movie,” a Collaboration by Ken Tomaro and Nolcha Fox

“Work Is a Scary Movie,” a Collaboration by Ken Tomaro and Nolcha Fox (Ken’s text is italicized) I’m a prisoner of work, they put me in a box and chain my hands to sticky keys of an old computer. I barely get a bathroom break, but I can sneak to the break room, where I…

“The Daylight Lengthens” by Yongbo Ma

The Daylight Lengthens The daylight lengthens, its sparks glowing above the dim forestit will stretch on and on, all the way to my hometownthat frozen land where only Sirius trembles, curled like a puppymarching northward, a rustling map melting as it goes Up north, these are the days to await great things on the horizonmottled…

“On the Levee” by Peter Mladinic

On the LeveeShe was never coming back.She turned in a doorframe, looked at the empty room, and locked the doorto the apartment he’d visited when they were lovers.The afternoon was green trees,sun, and shadows.A U-Haul hitched to her Cutlass with a busted taillight, she pulled away from the curb.Never again would he see her on…

“Holy Waters of Love” by Sushant Thapa

Holy Waters of Love To feel you close, To wander In your garden. To have gone awayFrom you. To make you My aspiration. To sail with you Into the ocean. Every pull and push Every secure and awry Walks of life, Every blessed Moments In the arm of love, Every recollection, Every silence breaking Conversation…

“The Town” by Kushal Poddar

The TownHe was a great backseat kisser.She had no business there,except her not so best friend had bailed out at the last moment.This tale she still tells on the rocksto everyone, and especially her sonwho has a winning streak in an online game of violence. He curses thinking about that substitute kiss. Hismother wheels through…

Featuring “Between Merwin and Greger: Overtones of Poetry” by Glenn D’Alessio

Between Merwin and Greger, Overtones of Poetry is a reflective collection that explores memory, spirituality, ecology, music, and the isolation resulting from unrequited love. Near the end, it considers a dystopian future due to environmental destruction, yet ends on a brighter note. Its poetry is steeped in lyrical observation and a contemplative poetic dialogue with…

“Traditional Assumptions” by Juliet Cook

Traditional AssumptionsCommemorate the dead as you see fit,but they’re still dead. Will you not giveattention to the living until they are dead too,can no longer speak for themselves, and their past existenceis mostly based on others’ interpretations, including thosewho barely spoke to them when they were stillalive? If you saw me at my wedding and…

“Walking Through the Forest at Night” by Gopal Lahiri

Walking Through the Forest at NightOpening and closing my hands in tandemI carry the silence in this forest path. Night comes like the player’s spiked shoesand enable me to unclutter myself. Is there someone around watching me in pale weedy eyes with rare possibilities? Where should I go? I don’t have any city to live…

“The Journey Home” by Supatra Sen

The Journey HomeVery often now I feelMy work is doneNo task remainsNo one waits for meAnd I await none…I am now freeAs the sparrows dancing aroundThe sunlit balconyAnd butterflies whoFlitter and disappearLife hurries byAnd I watch it go past…The sky changes coloursClouds, formsThe planets their pathsSeasons come and goI see it all But seek none…No…

“i get” by John Yamrus

i get “i get mybrownsfrom coffee, andmy blacksfrom eights.” hedroppedthe mic and left. thepoetsin the audience didn’t knowwhat the hell he meant. thewaiter smiled. Copyright © 2026 John YamrusAll Rights Reserved John Yamrus is widely recognized as a master of minimalism and the neo-noir in modern poetry. In a career spanning over 50 years as…

“we are the night roses rising as bright moths”: A Collaboration by Helen Pletts and Ma Yongbo

we are the night roses rising as bright moths我们是夜玫瑰，像明亮的飞蛾一样升起where dark air is a conjuror of levitation. Black night airhas lifted us and we are floating in darkness.A black river raising us higher on her jet black waves,yellow lamp light from the study connecting with each pale paper face.Blooms that have transformed into rising white, appearing…

Clever Poems by Nolcha Fox

Knock, KnockOh, happy days!I thought I knockedit out of the parkwhen I boughtthose stylish shoes.Not only did theyhurt my feet,I found out theywere knock-offs.I know I boughtbefore I thought.Please don’t knock me.~~Quaking AspenI checked up on our aspen grovea day past the first frost.I thought they’d dress in yellowbest for Sunday, I was wrong.They stubbornly…

“The Surgical Mark” by Kushal Poddar

The Surgical MarkA river of red markswhere she hadthe surgery. She shows it. She lovesto show it.The boys throw stonesand watch themskip on the streamand then disappear into her heart.Copyright © 2026 Kushal PoddarAll Rights Reserved The author of ‘Postmarked Quarantine’ and ‘How To Burn Memories Using a Pocket Torch’ has nine books to his…

“Our Talk” by Strider Marcus Jones

OUR TALKthe soft wind, stroking your smiling face,fingers your fine combed hair, in out of place-and i knowwhen you gonothing can make this mood,or give its famine food.our talk, branching through woods and skylike young leaves, suddenly knowing why-they need the sun againto be, and to remain-more than a copied canopyto reach the plain out…

“Beautiful Rain” by Ian C. Smith

Beautiful Rain This would make an arresting opening scene for a movie, I thought, on my way to Heathrow to drop off my rental before crossing the Channel for an assignment. I had a little time to spare, so I exited the motorway, backtracking to her. You never know when or where opportunity might present,…

“Time Traveling” by Cindy Georgakas

Time Traveling I blur between life and fiction, becoming the star of my own reality show, a melodramatic fantasy. Life slows down, while my pulse heats up to music in my bones where I come alive beating to my own drummer,shooting to the moon, time traveling through space, standing on the threshold of expansion and…

“There’s Never Enough of Me” by Melissa Lemay, Nolcha Fox, and Barbara Leonhard

There’s Never Enough of Mesomething smelly is growing in the back of the refrigeratorIt leaves footprints of crumbs and smearsthe dust bunnies need feeding dailyI drape myself in lacy spider websdrips without dropsrun down the front of the stovetrail of spaghetti saucetrails and trials, so many disastersI’ll pay anything for someone to clean up this…

“Turkey of the Festive” by Rajendra Ojha (Nayan)

Turkey of the FestiveThose cunning in their pursuit of powerPlayed the victim card of emotion,Using our souls to scale their thrones.They wove a mesmerizing dream of the futureOnly to march us into the flames of their ego.And when the time came,They feasted upon usAs though we were the turkeys of their festival.Let us not live…