JULY

by David Radavich

Can we be independent 

together?  It is

 

a contradiction

devoutly to be wished.

 

Parades, floats, marching 

bands, twirling batons,

tricolor costumes,

 

fireworks

in the festive key.

 

Much of our food

is the same—

grilled, between buns,

sided by slaw, beans,

beer and boasting,

 

a ball tossed 

with betting, servers 

bustling as bees.   

           

Ironic how we choose

the same means

to be ourselves

and free—

 

can shared rituals

save a divided land?    

 

Among David Radavich's poetry collections are two epics, America Bound and America Abroad, as well as Middle-East Mezze and The Countries We Live In.  His latest book is Unter der Sonne / Under the Sun: German and English Poems from Deutscher Lyrik Verlag.

LOOKING FOR AMERICA

by George Salamon 

I looked for the American character,

and I saw the contours fading, the

words to sing of it sour or drab, I

seek refuge in old photo albums, 

capturing dignity and pride, coming

together in many kinds of work and

fulfillment, revealing what we had or

what we thought we had, now that

we're seeking the causes of our loss

as if our minds had shut down and our

hands and feet were bound, yet no

cause is so deep it cannot be found.

George Salamon live in the heartland of America, St. Louis, MO, and contributes to The Asses of Parnassus, One Sentence Poems, and The New Verse News.

NO TWO ALIKE

by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

          for B.A.

 

In the night snow fell

upon the bittersweet

and lined the land from stone

to sleeping limb with hope.

 

The waking sky reveals

it’s hardly deep enough

to cover the frozen leaves

of grass, but having fallen

 

far and wide, traces

each intention—tire tracks

down a road, fox footprints

fading into the woods

 

dividing neighborhoods.

Despite these separate paths

the snowfall wakes me up

again to the bracing truth

 

that we are joined to one

another and this place,

fragile icy pieces

formed in community—

 

We robe ourselves in frost

yet thrive in unity.

Felicia Sanzari Chernesky is a longtime editor and picture book author who tracks life’s footprints with poetry as her lens. Her microfiction has been nominated for a 2021 Pushcart and Best of Microfiction. She lives with her family in Flemington, New Jersey