"Clock is ticking; can you hear the uproar"
America’s 250th Birthday
by W. Wayne Lin

"July, how high, how bright"
A Young Woman at a Window
by W. Wayne Lin

"You came to stay with me”"
Once Upon a Summer Night
by W. Wayne Lin

"Submerged in the summer marsh"
Hippopotamus
by W. Wayne Lin

The Duel

"Shouts and giggles of kids"
The Picnic
by Michael Escoubas

"Walking the seashore a child again"
The Spade
by Charlotte Digregorio

"Silence yearns to dance with the still, small voice"
Silence Rebuffed 
by Scott Shaffer

"The earth danced between the sun and moon"
Cancer Survivors Celebrate in Early July
by Marcel Aime Duclos

"It’s been a long prairie afternoon"
At the Picnic on the Weekend of the Village Festival
by Michael Simon

"Its voices are evening cicadas"
Her Month
by Gay Williford

Sanctuary

"Memories buried deep"
Summer 2026
by Sharmagne Leland-St.John

"Poets have no imagination when writing about the sea"
Surreality in the Sands of Time
by Michael Escoubas

"Being so conscious of time slipping away"
Never Quite a Nightmare
by Howard Osborne

"The friendship grew and grew"
A Glorious Gift
by Elayne Clift

"Too often, our gleaming moments flash past"
As Time Dwindles
by Vaughn Neeld

"Everything changes"
Maybe Five Thousand Years Ago This Spot
by Michael Simon

"She blesses them with her smile"
The Oracle and the Hourglass
by Lenora Rain-Lee Good

Poetry Prompt for August 2026

Round Up

"The wide, open prairie unpeopled and still"
Lone Cowboy
by Sharmagne Leland-St.John

"We hear the groan of his well-oiled saddle"
Cowboys 
by Michael Escoubas

"Their right to run with the wind"
Reining them In
by Gay Williford

"Headed home for oats and hay"
From the Saddle
by Paulette Demers Turco

"There is a photo from long ago"
The Rider
by Priscilla Turner Spada

"Daddy kept his horses in the barn"
Horses Were Almost His First Love
by MFrostDelaney

"He rides for pleasure, astride his white horse"
On His Day Off
by Lenora Rain-Lee Good

"Tall grass whispered to each other"
A Last Bucket List Wish
by Elayne Clift

"Memories of freedom might well persist"
New Lives
by Howard Osborne

Ekphrastic Prompt for August 2026

Companions

Interview with Maryam Imogen Ghouth
by Neil Leadbeater

Den Mother

Recalibrations
by Monty Mittleman
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas

Chicago: Seeing and Photographing the Windy City
by Steve Geer
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas

Mutterings of An Unsettled Mind: Poems
by Dan Fitzgerald
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas

Streamers

Publisher: Resource Publications
An Earth Full of Gratitude:
A Collection of Poems
by Ranjith Sivarman

Publisher: Praying Mantis Press
27
A Book of Poems
by jacob erin-cilberto

Publisher: Highland Park Poetry
Poets Respond to the American Revolution
The US250 Persona Poem Project
63 Participating Poets
Editors Jennifer Dotson & Mary Beth Bretzlauf

Mother and Daughter

Try this non-alcoholic beverage this holiday weekend
Lavender Ginger Beer Mocktail
from the kitchen of Sharmagne Leland-St.John

Add to your favourite beverage or ginger beer
Lavender Simple Syrup 
from the kitchen of Sharmagne Leland-St.John

Oldies but Goodies

Add a bit of southern hospitality to your table
Watermelon and Arugula Salad
from the kitchen of Sharmagne Leland-St. John

A fitting ending for your 4th of July picnic
Shoo-Fly Pie
from the kitchen of Sharmagne Leland-St. John

Angles Of Pursuit