Tohm Bakelas
Tohm Bakelas is a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. He was born in New Jersey, resides there, and will die there. He is the author of twenty-five chapbooks and several collections of poetry, including “Cleaning The Gutters of Hell” (Zeitgeist Press, 2023). He runs Between Shadows Press. Visit Tohm on the web here.
The following work is Copyright © 2023, and owned by Tohm Bakelas and may not be distributed or reprinted in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.
true story
depressed, stoned and alone—
i find myself watching
the x-files again
i am pro-title haikus
“submission guidelines
clearly state: ‘do not title haikus’ ”—
well, fuck you
R. M. Butler
R. M. Butler is a teen poet, journalist, and singer/songwriter. She is the author of the poetry book Beast (Kindle Direct Publishing, 2023) and the singer/songwriter of the band Midnight Sun. Butler is currently based in Cary, North Carolina, where she vehemently pursues all of her artistic endeavors.
The following work is Copyright © 2023, and owned by R. M. Butler and may not be distributed or reprinted in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Für Elise
As my fingers strike ivory notes
E, D sharp, E, D sharp, E
I think about who Elise may have been.
Historians argue who Beethoven’s muse
For this piece was.
Was it ‘für’ Therese, Elisabeth, or Elise?
I don’t imagine it matters to us too greatly,
As the sentiment is the same.
A German man, over 200 years ago
Played the same keys, in the same intervals
That I am now,
And whilst doing so he thought of someone fondly.
I don’t know what’s more human than that.
