TRUMP MAKES ME WISH

by Kevin Boyce

 

AI-generated graphic by NightCafé for The New Verse News.

that superheroes were real. What if

Superman was on his way

to the White House from

the Fortress of Solitude,

 

or maybe

flying in from Metropolis after putting

in a long day at the Daily Planet.

 

Or perhaps,

he has already captured the President

using the Phantom Zone Projector,

committing him to this spectral prison along with

super-criminal, Lex Luthor.

 

Unlike other supervillains, Lex Luthor

does not possess superpowers. His evil stems

from his vast wealth and influence

over politics, science, and technology.

 

An ordinary human, but vengeful and driven by

an insatiable need for control, utterly devoid of ethics

—an unprincipled man.

 

I’m sure that Donald and Lex would find much to talk about

in this never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.

 

            listen carefully

            and you can hear the fabric

                        of the flag ripping

Kevin Boyce is a poet, photographer, children’s book author, and lifelong resident of New England. He volunteers in his hometown, leading a community-sponsored contest and publication for emerging authors. 

FROM THE FIELDS OF MINNESOTA

by Mike Bayles

 

an old watercolor believed to be of Grand Marais, Minnesota

 

 

Each winter fields rested

and in spring they found

new life. My uncle raised

cattle and crops with pride.

 

News played on television

during simpler times

while families sat together

and talked at the dinner table.

 

We had our dreams

of going to the moon

and in quiet times

we looked into clear skies.

 

Buildings in downtown

Minneapolis glistened

our pride, a mecca for most

 

while in St. Paul

cattle displayed at the State Fair

won ribbons while young boys

learned to farm.

 

My cousin and I walked

through pastures and we said

our uncles would never die.

 

We talked of wars,

as soldiers fought

on the other side of the world.

Little did we know that they

would be fought on our streets

 

Back then a man dressed in a cape

could leap over the tallest building

with a single bound. I long

to hold onto that dream.

 

The farm where my cousin once lived

was torn up for a highway

and we’ve fallen out of touch.

Our fathers have died.

 

Now I cry for them

and innocence lost

when the news says

we are killing each other

on the streets I once loved.

Mike Bayles, a lifelong Midwest resident, is the author of seven books of poetry and fiction. His most recent book is The Siouxland and Other Dreams, with poems about Northwest and surrounding areas, and mythology of the land. His writing is informed by his travels when he worked as a flagger/traffic control for construction and utility crews. He is expecting to publish his next collection of poetry this spring.

REAL SUPERMAN

(and "nevah" means “not ever”)

by Regina YC Garcia

Superman would nevah….

pledge allegiance to Lex Luthor

beat down the Tamale Lady

snatch a child from a loving mother

snatch a  loving mother from the grasp of  a terrified child

cage them  strip them  from each other 

pull them from the light of hope 

Superman would nevah….

dump Mr. Terrific from his chair

keep him from accessing his reasonable accommodations

cancel his yearly checkup 

lie about his color… his culture… his merit 

leave him hungry… emaciated… prey for predators 

Superman would nevah….

set fire to non-perishable food

soak the ashes in a blood-soaked ground

willingly hand his red cloak to the enemy that they might cover the eyes of the innocents 

     and steal  their liberty

Superman would nevah….

forget the “Golden Rule”

shut down opportunities 

enlist the fools to join a league of injustice

     that they might  overtake the land

Superman would save the alligators 

from the monsters that built shoddy cages and dangled distraught meat from unclean hands 

Superman would nevah….

forget where he came from

forget who helped him and loved him

     all along the way 

forget that we all have a part to play

     a part that bends towards justice

     redefines the American way

     a way that ushers in a prosperity

     that ensures we all stay free 

     and more 

          and even more 

(unnecessary too tall buildings and death waters be damned)

Regina YC Garcia is a national award-winning poet, professor, and language artist from Greenville, NC. She is a twice-nominated Puscart nominee, and her work has been widely published in a variety of journals reviews and anthologies, as well as musical compositions and documentaries. She is the author of two collections of poetry—Whispers from the Multiverse (Aquarius Press/Willow Books, February 2025) and The Firetalker’s Daughter (Finishing Line Press, March 2023).

INVITING THE WORDLE BOT TO DINNER

by Elizabeth Kerlikowske

Linen is good but vinyl would be better, the Wordle Bot told me.
Hmm. Vinyl is almost never better.
All fabrics are not created equal, if vinyl could be called that. 
I want the vinyl sheets on the bed tonight, said no one ever. 
When your grandma was through with sex, 
she covered her furniture with vinyl, and then herself.
Like Superman and Clark Kent, linen and vinyl are never
found together, and one isn’t even found in nature.
But Wordle Bot, please come for dinner.
We will try to listen to the linen records

and wipe our hands (if you have them) on vinyl napkins.

Elizabeth Kerlikowske’s latest chapbook is Falling Women, with painter Mary Hatch.

AMERICAN DAIRY COWS UNDER ATTACK?

by Cecil Morris

Chinese scientists have successfully cloned three “super cows” that can produce an unusually high amount of milk, state media reported, hailing it as a breakthrough for China’s dairy industry to reduce its dependence on imported breeds… They were cloned from highly productive cows from the Holstein Friesian breed, which originated in the Netherlands. The chosen animals are capable of producing 18 tons of milk per year, or 100 tons of milk in their lifetimes. That is nearly 1.7 times the amount of milk an average cow in the United States produced in 2021, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Photo: Workers feed cows at a dairy farm in Handan, Hebei province, China, on November 15, 2021.[Hao Qunying/Costfoto/Future Publishing/Getty Images] —CNN, February 1, 2023

The headline makes me think of Superman,

the Man of Steel, and cows in capes and tights

and an enduring fight for truth, justice,

and the American way (or better

tomorrow). Then, after reading the news

of exceptional Holstein Friesian cows cloned,

I think of Frankenstein and his monster

because, to a suburban boy, Holstein Friesian

already sounds like science run amuck.

I imagine herds of Chinese cow clones

descending like knock-off handbags or phones

on American dairies, udders bulging

with tons of milk, another disruption,

another Chinese plot (just like Tik Tok)

to corrupt our country and weaken us

and, maybe, the high-flying spy balloon

was scoping out farms and dairies and not

our strategic fields of nuclear missiles

and when I read that our own FDA

approves of meat and milk from cloned cows

my mind leaps to deep-state conspiracies

and wholesomeness and the American

way weaponized against our best interests.

What if they clone Tom Brady or Peyton

Manning next? Will tons of passes saturate

our football landscape and forever change

the game we love as much as we love guns?

Cecil Morris, a retired high school English teacher, divides his time between Oregon and California. He has poems in or forthcoming from 3Elements, Cimarron Review, Ekphrastic Review, English Journal, Evening Street Review, Hiram Review, Hole in the Head Review, The New Verse News, Scapegoat, Talking River Review, and other literary magazines.

LOOK, UP IN THE SKY

by Michelle DeRose

Trey Ganem's company, SoulShine Industries, created special caskets for 19 of the 21 victims killed at Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas.

What music accompanies a Superman coffin?

What song will waft your boy over buildings

that block your sun, black your path

with shadow? Does the melody

to lull you to sleep exist, and 

will the hum of your own voice

be enough? Birdsong mocks, small 

throats on spindly legs, sparrows still

in the care of their father. Where 

will your boy fly now, outstretched 

arms and closed fists planing so fast, 

so fast, 

away from you?

Michelle DeRose teaches creative writing and Irish, African-American, and world literature at Aquinas College. Some of her recent poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Midwest Quarterly, Dunes Review, Sparks of Calliope, Making Waves, and The Journal of Poetry Therapy.

REFLECTING THE WORLD

by Richard Schnap

When he learned that
To lose was to
Be spit upon
He wore a Superman outfit

And when he discovered that
Hate was becoming
More fashionable than love
He wore a swastika armband

And when he found that
The future was looking
More like the past
He wore a watch that ran backwards

And when he saw that
To be different was
The worst of all
He wore a mask made of mirrors

Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter, and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas in a variety of print and online publications.