The Brief Avenger

the golden register still rings
after the iconic $1 bills have been incinerated,
its heyday to spiral out to intergalactic emeraldhood,

prologue to a renamed movie that argues for loopholes
in the global tabulating of its worried megaplexes,
neither brave nor bloated enough

for the simpler times blandly enjoyed
between the dog-eared and the do-gooders,
the brief avenger that even seems forever-long

-- Glenn R. Frantz

GOP shifting on anti-tax policy
Big Blue Turns 100: IBM's Anniversary is One to Celebrate
'Green Lantern' passable, plausible -- none too illuminating

Beyond The Catskills

I've been to college.
I understand well the physics of flypaper,
and other vast amorphous concepts.

I know how to sing "Hey Jude" backwards,
while carrying spiders down fire escape ladders.
I'm irreplaceable...patiently waiting next door.

Let's ban hide and seek. Let's face jail time.
Let's cause intense emotional distress.
Let's be quirky. Let's tiptoe together towards infinity.

-- Scott H. Stoller

Lives Cut Short by Depression
A brief introduction to infinity
Tenn. law bans posting images that "cause emotional distress"

The Memory Suicide

It’s a little shocking to lose parts of us:
the painful memories and iconic moments
erased in the sunshine of a city beach.

Most pictures die. Constructing a new past
brings welcome relief, rubbing out remembrances
of our three months in San Francisco Bay.

We stand on the shore of mangled months
watching as time disappears below the water,
making no attempt to rescue remembrances.

-- Jenni B. Baker

Pill could erase painful memories, study shows
Happy 85th birthday, Marilyn Monroe
After officials watch man drown, city changes policy

Selling Heavy Rain

Across nations,
expensive war-era simplicity---
elementary guidance,

fabulously exact.
A relaxed anxiety kept it new.
Thought over order,

or order over thought?
Breathe, you discarded suicides,
breathe.

-- Scott H. Stoller

Are you taking too many meds?
Woman selling 'suicide kits' reignites right-to-die debate
Pentagon seeks mini-weapons for new age of warfare