The Best of Mad Swirl : 04.17.21
"What is to give light must endure burning."
Anton Wildgans
••• The Mad Gallery •••
Bi - Charles J. March III
To witness more of Charles’ curious collage collection, as well as our other former featured artists (over 50 in total), take a virtual stroll thru Mad Swirl’s Mad Gallery!
••• The Poetry Forum •••
This past week on Mad Swirl’s Poetry Forum...[read more]
Another Mad Review: Shop Talk
Shop Talk by Tanner
Paul Tanner (October 15, 2019)
Available at Amazon
Paul Tanner’s book, Shop Talk, comes at you directly. It’s safe to assume that the writer of these poems either works in a shop or has worked in a shop. From here on in I’m going to refer to the writer as Tanner.
Having dealt with[read more]
The Best of Mad Swirl : 04.10.21
"Ink runs from the corners of my mouth. / There is no happiness like mine. / I have been eating poetry."
Mark Strand
••• The Mad Gallery •••
Dinner Party - Charles J. March III
To witness more of Charles’ curious collage collection, as well as our other former featured artists (over 50 in total), take a virtual stroll thru[read more]
My Private Tutor’s Crows
by Sekhar Banerjee
We know the sky functions like the eye
of the galaxy that has tiny specks of planets moving
near its cornea because
the universe is one-eyed
like my second private tutor in high school and he liked
the Hitchcock movie- The Birds,
with subtitles
and he often looked at the crows
in Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with a magnifying glass
to learn more about life,
sky, planets, birds, and the universe
which continuously looks at us
I take one eye from my second private tutor
and the other from the universe
Recently Published
All There Was
by Bruce Mundhenke
A moment in time
Brought me to a place,
Where beauty shined
Its light,
Illuminating everything,
And blending all into one.
No longer any division,
Between myself and everything.
No longer was there
This,[read more]
Brought me to a place,
Where beauty shined
Its light,
Illuminating everything,
And blending all into one.
No longer any division,
Between myself and everything.
No longer was there
This,[read more]
Milton was murdered.
by Chris Zimmerly
Lately it seems
All is lost, all is found
All at the same time
If healing is necessary
Ask the Traiteur for help
No payment needed
Milton wishes to hold[read more]
All is lost, all is found
All at the same time
If healing is necessary
Ask the Traiteur for help
No payment needed
Milton wishes to hold[read more]
Lasting Light
by Harley White
When stars come out in dark of night
they simply reappear in sight.
How would they flee the light of day
or to what reaches fly away?
they simply reappear in sight.
How would they flee the light of day
or to what reaches fly away?
Appearances deceive[read more]
Abandonment
by Susie Gharib
Hounded by neighbors and ruthless schoolchildren during the day, their nocturnal, air-rending cries of hunger keep me vigilantly awake. Stoning is the most lenient fate that awaits mums, puppies, or the already lame. My ears have attuned their nerves to catch the slightest bark that has a tinge of dread as it squeals its alarm away. A stray dog has no status in this beneficent part of our planet, so why should I not play the savior, a role I could not play in my earlier years? Unprecedented confrontations with[read more]
Madrigals
by Mark Benedict
David Newton, young project manager, was in a harshly lit meeting when he realized that he’d rather die than spend another stupid month at his job. The conversation among his coworkers, now as always, was dry and droning—the sound of life passing you by. But where else could he go? The arts were his passion but not his talent. He wanted to holler curses and topple everyone’s water bottles. Instead, he decided to take a year off and buy a motorcycle and teach a music appreciation class at the library.
“You’re[read more]
The Hotel Frasina
by Bruce Mundhenke
There is only a parking lot now where the Hotel Frasina once stood on the corner, just off the square, in the little town where I grew up. It was first opened in 1893 under the name The Antlers. Then, in 1946, it was purchased by Dominic Frasina. He renamed it Hotel Frasina and remodeled the elegant dining room as well as the cocktail lounge, which he called the Zebra Room. Both were frequented by people in town on business as well as by locals.
As I looked at the empty[read more]