2026 poetry submissions will be accepted from April 1-17 and will be published here beginning April 24. Community members are welcome to submit more than one poem.
SOPHIE By Diane Gatto
When we first saw you, I must confess, you were not looking so good, you were truly a mess.
You had no fur on your legs, tail or around your eyes, You smelled pretty bad too no real surprise.
The foster care mom said you had some skin issues and had you on meds, I thought ok I’ll take you and went out and bought you a bed.
“I’ll be back for this sweet doggie get her cleaned up please” I said to the lady, She must have thought “this woman is crazy.”
She said you were about two and a half maybe three years old, and someone just threw you out into the cold.
At first I had to bathe you every single day, I tried this, I tried that, was anything working I couldn’t really say.
After trying two or three I found just the right Vet, He said a more determined lady he had never met.
Soon your fur grew in and we could see what a pretty little lady you can be!
As the months turned into years you brought us much joy, You would run down the hallway and bring back your toy.
Molly and Zorro were here quite a while, Zorro said, “You’ve got me, you don’t need another furry child.”
Come on kitties make room for just one more, Who knows what fun she may have in store?
One day out of clear blue you ate something that made you very sick, But with lots of love and care it was just the trick.
You managed to pull through almost two more years, You said, “I’m not ready hold on to your tears.”
But alas my sweet darling all good things soon come to an end, You have been there for me and been a best friend.
All we know is twelve years with you was not enough, facing each day will surely be tough.
I look at the places where you once slept, and every night in your bed next to me on the floor. It will never be the same when we walk inside the door.
You would bark as if to say, “Where were you mommy? Where on earth did you go?” My heart is broken sweet baby girl, I will love your forever for this I well know.
PEONIES By Diane Gatto
You may cut my beautiful flowers and put them in a vase, I will open up into something spectacular that will truly amaze.
Leave me alone I am my own little festival, Everything near me pales as I am quite the spectacle.
I am a proud little flower I cannot help but boast, If you add me to your garden I know you will love me most.
I am well worth waiting for though my blooms will be brief, Enjoy me quickly as my time here is a thief.
in tiny beats,
petite sparrows
peck in presto rhythm
for seeds in winter grass.
bobbing ’round
like dusky rocks,
not feeling the tapping
of snowflakes on feathers.
tiny legs and beaks
pick and pip
near the colossal feet
of vigorous tree trunks.
sudden flights
then coil wildly up,
the course choreographed
for the charms of branch-roosting.
I envy the brisky birds
then dropping small like stones,
pecking and bobbing low,
busy again in the simmering cold.
From the time I was a teen…I thought about…I dreamed
that someday there would be…a little girl in my life
the years would pass…sons would be born…giving me happiness and joy
and yet I wondered…what it would be like to have…a little girl in my life
the sons became men…they married…grandsons were born
I wondered if there would ever be…a little girl in my life
then came the phone call…from far, far away
that she was finally on her way…and soon there would be
a little girl in my life.
while I may never hold this baby…or feel her soft newborn freshness
against my cheek…I will know that she is finally here
a little girl in my life
I will be the face on a screen…or a box in the mail
but she will be…finally…a little girl in my life
It is said dogs have masters
Cats have staff
Cats are smart enough
To have the last laugh
Damning the earth
Is it too late to leave?
Leaking from breasts
and womb
and eyes
Strength that should not exist
Cradling the earth
In my fragile hands
Doubt, emotion
will loom
consume
doom
I am not worthy
Gazing at the earth
Something so big
in tiny eyes
My fragile hands
will give it to yours
and help you hold it
above salt water
Navigating the earth
My heart now existing
on the outside
I will blame myself
for loving too hard
fearing too often
Failing and wailing
The happiest times
of my life
North and South poles
One does not exist
without the other
Motherhood is
My new Earth
Today I woke up and thought
You haven’t made yourself your
Favorite breakfast
In a long time
Wow, what a refreshing thought
My brain trying to quiet
What is its current norm
Fold your clothes
You are lazy
Do your dishes
Clean your house
You are not good enough
You waste your days
See-
Pitter patter
Blonde hair bobbing
“Mommy put on your special earrings,
They make you look
So beautiful”
I take the earrings
And put them on
Armor I haven’t been strong enough
To pull out of my closet
I cook my eggs
Careful not to burn them
Sitting at my table
Covered in unfolded laundry-
No, clean clothes-
Covered in clean clothes
And I eat my favorite breakfast
A grilled cheese egg sandwich
In the earrings I got married in
While my heart beats
Outside of my body
Across from me
With a smile
Hope
Invisible Girl, Thats Me
I’m sitting in the dark all alone, where am I ? Hello, is anyone out there ? I’m screaming out loud, but yet you can’t hear me. I just touched your hand but you cant feel me. I try to scream louder or awake from a dream. But my throat is really sore and I just lost my voice.
I try to touch you one more time. This time you felt it but you don’t see anyone. You just scratched your head because you’re not going crazy. You just felt someone but they’re not there. What is going on, why cant you see me?
Did l ever say something to you that magically made me become invisible ? I just dont get it, oh wait I forgot, you can’t hear me. As I think out loud at what I could of done, the sadder I become. I’m about to get sick and my alarm goes off, wake up wake up it says. Whew, it was only a dream or was it? Because l awoke in a closet, so that was the darkness I was in.
So as I close up this dream or reality, I will never know if you really heard or felt me. So until you tell me you did. I will always be
THE INVISIBLE GIRL
Senior Discount
A double edged mighty sword
of reality heads your way
at the movie theater
the pharmacy, the diner
inhabiting the spaces between us
the great divides
and the super conductors of chi energy
and Theraflu on sale in aisle 7
what is it that connects us
that unseen force that bonds
and divides
like gorilla glue
or melted marshmallows
dropped fireside on your sneaker
on a hot summer night
in what could’ve been the paradise
of our childhoods
fifty years ago to a day
and no, not the same as a silver spoon
or miles of grass
or miles in someone else’s shoes
letting the light in
through the screen door
with the dog and the cat
at different times during the day
but the previews are over
the movie starts and ends, a sleeper
in what seems like forever
but just a blink really
no popcorn, a first in years
the older crowd heads home
to an early dinner