Canyons

When I was young I used to drive
with no companion or destination in mind.

Cutting through heavy valley heat on the 101
then curving toward the coast through Topanga Canyon
1969, on an unmarked road by a no trespassing sign,
parked between the boulders, eucalyptus and
sage with four-track off and eyes closed
I’m seventeen and waiting for a
transformation—that wasn’t coming that
afternoon.
Or any time soon.

For every hasty engagement
there was a Benedict Canyon.
For every cleaving together
there was geography.

One Night on the Riverbed

Nighttime medicine,
Benzene blue his eyes and soul—
How slowly we fall.

Silent Lorelei,
An embrace of glassy green
On my skin again.

Dark blue, pinhole stars,
My body the midnight sky
Bending over his.

Hand on hand. Dreams slip
Into the underbelly
Of the universe.

Identifying Features

Identifying Features Is it suffering who joins you at the table? Or is it merely cold and gloom, an animal discomfort? Does it tell you a story? Does it whisper in your ear? Does it try to sell you glamor or pain? It has this trick of sliding away when you look at it, as […]

Day of the Blackbirds

David Reuter is a New Jersey based poet. His work has been published in The Cape Rock, Existere Journal, Sanskrit Literary-Arts Magazine and Vox Poetica. He attended William Paterson University’s Writer’s Conference in 2018 and Rutgers Writers’ Conferences in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He has a bachelor’s degree from Caldwell College, works as a paralegal and enjoys practicing martial arts, playing […]

Blight

J.L Moultrie is a 30 year old poet based in Detroit, Michigan. He fell in love with reading and writing poetry after encountering Hart Crane, Rainer Maria Rilke and others. His work appears in Rigorous, WhiteWall Review, Sonder Midwest, and Gravitas. He is a dog and cat dad and holds an Associate of Arts degree […]

The Wishbone

Christine A. MacKenzie is a student of English, creative writing, and psychology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She is a crisis counselor and a writer. In the future she plans to become a psychotherapist and continue to write. She has recently been published in The Inflectionist Review, Xylem, The Merrimack Review, and Fourteen Hills. […]

Stray

Megha Sood lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. She is a contributing author / editor at GoDogGO Cafe, Candles Online, Free Verse Revolution, Whisper and the Roar, Poets Corner and contributing editor at Ariel Chart. Her works have been featured in 521 Magazine #Sideshow, Oddball, Pangolin Review, Fourth and Sycamore, KOAN (Paragon press), Modern Literature, […]

There’s a Way the Body Speaks

Jenny Keto is an actress and writer born and raised in Austin, Texas. After spending some years in NYC, she returned to Austin to attend nursing school. Jenny looks forward to the prospect of helping others for a living. Her poems can be found in Painted Cave Literary Journal and The City Key. There’s a […]

In Between Hope

“So what does it feel like?” Nick asks me this from behind his computer. He’s wincing, I suppose in solidarity, but it feels more like pity. “It’s like when you sprain your ankle, or jam your finger,” I say, sighing, knowing that there is really no good way to explain it to him. “Like […]

My Angry Kidney

Hello, PDXX Collective readers, it’s been a while since I last posted. A month ago I spilled wine all over my laptop the night before a presentation. It’s a good thing I had my talk backed up in the cloud, otherwise it would have just been 45 minutes of me sobbing. So I had no […]

Visitant

Literary pilgrims welcome

pain