POETS PLACE
JUNE EDITION 2026
Hello everyone! The race is on!! Who, please, can bring the administration down to its knees?? What does the President have on all these Republicans that they continue to allow for his constant greed and grift? Must be huge. How many of them are in the Epstein files? I believe that its all connected to the files. All non presidential duties are a distraction from the files. The ballroom, reflecting pool, the statues, the 250 4th of July party, the war in Iran. Aren’t we all experiencing a collective mental disturbance from the antics of this disgusting president??!!! The world at large knows too what we are experiencing. I see countless memes, videos, parades detailing his grift created by countries such as Iran, Denmark, Italy, and France of the of destruction of America. Does the President even see what the world thinks of him? Is he that protected from ‘actual’ news? He is sooo despised!!! I try not to give him space in my brain, it’s just so pervasive on all mediums to avoid seeing and hearing the constant destruction of our society. The fabric of American values has been stripped of its core. Will my vote count? Is my identity compromised? How long will we continue to suffer the bombardment of his destructive whims? I will continue to create which cancels the negative noise around me. A wave of energy, like water going down a drain flows continuously around my head. Yelling at me to STOP THE NOISE! STOP LISTENING TO THE NEGATIVITY! Write! Write and find the joy in my craft. Distraction is often my best drug.
We continue to host everyone who wants to submit here at POETS PLACE. It gives all of us joy to read what you write, create and share. Please don’t give up hope for our future. America has been through a lot this last year. I hope we can come back to the American dream. A place for all to realize hope for a brighter future, for freedom to be you and total inclusion. Right now though, its not safe.
What are walls for?
(tune of “Words”, by Missing Persons)
By Linda Kaye
What are walls for?
when no one's listening
and freedom doesn't count for a lick
the world is shaping and the wicked thieves are coming
it's such a scary time for those of us who hurt
it's a brutal time for everyone I know
what are walls for?
it's just so disheartening to watch the country crumbling and many lives are struggling
to get out
when love can't conquer
to crack that wall that's haunting
we might as will be talking to that wall
it's just a silly thought
I think I'm going to puke
it's a brutal time for everyone I know
we used to squash our racist thoughts
but now we're free and letting go to unleash the hatred asshole thoughts
to raise your glass to disrespect to laugh at us for loving peace
America or bust!
what are walls for?
it hurts to remember a time of common anger when sticks and stones were broken and nothing bad was spoken
you just went home
and had a toke
the racist pigs are selling hate
we must bear arms to protect our private gate!
what are walls for?!
when the henhouse is ruled by Nazi roosters
the White House is run by crazy Hoosiers
the supporters are blinded by a chariot riding idiot flashing made up reasons to guide the American people
into catastrophic frenzy which boils up the nation to deconstruct the forces
that are waiting at the ready
to enact the martial law
that starts the revolution
it's a brutal time for everyone I know
Pick A Rose
By Richard McDowell
Pick a rose
for time is surely flying,
for a rose that shines today
tomorrow may be dying.
A rose that stands alone,
its petals fall away,
a rose that stands alone
in the passing of the day,
its petals get blown
like clouds across the sky.
For a rose to be alone
it will surely die.
So pick a rose
and give it love and care,
for a rose that dies with love
is a rose beyond compare.
Richard McDowell has been a faithful resident of Downtown Los Angeles since 2001 and a current resident of Skid Row since 2007. Richard is a keen observer of the street. While living in an SRO, the Baltimore Hotel, he believes he found a subject matter and perhaps his voice. He is the author of Icarus Sat By Me and several chapbooks, including Observations of Night, In the Pit and Thirty Days on on Spring.
A Red Leaf Has Fallen
By Jackie Chou
Now stuck
to the grass’s bosom
like a brooch
The others
have all curled up
around it
like corpses
It is the heart
of a wholesome woman
whose fat chambers
can contain your love
without leaking
A rare vessel
I do not own
which puts me to shame
with its crimson glory
Jackie Chou is a writer of poetry and flash fiction who has recent work in Chainmail Poetry, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, Poetry Online, Alien Buddha Zine, and Collaborature. Her poems have been translated into Chinese in the journal Poetry Hall. Her story "Kiss From a Rose on the Grey" is forthcoming in Spillwords. She believes that writers must write in order to call themselves writers, and hopes to live up to that demand herself.
A Quiet Place to Squeak
by Darren Hembd (c) 2026
Mice learn from their scientific captors. They remember the different types of cheese, the layouts of mazes, and which channels have which networks. This information is passed down from generation to generation.
“Only a diligent paw gets the cheese,” read a mouse grandma’s pillow. She was over 113 weeks olde, and her *whiskers* showed it so. “But a good heart knows to share the cheddar.” Referring to the cheddar reward.
Out in the wild, these little critters have a choice: Brave the wilderness, or seek the -Enchanted Sanctuary-. Everything You need to know about it is in *this* pamphlet, plus ads for new mouse footwear. (p.113)
“Don’t get your little paws all covered in mud,” commanded the Beggar’s Choice advertisement for Peet Pumps. “Do you *want* the Ghost King to shake his ghostly head in disappointment?” They now come in *brown*.
Younger mice don’t stand a chance on their own, +especially+ out in the wild. I tell You this like You don’t already know but, BUT it’s important to note. Whilst mice receive combat training, they learn -Maps-.
“Most paths are covered by hollow logs,” explained Explorer Rocky Crevices (age 43). He was an explorer scientist, and wore a fedora made for humans. “They *mainly* serve as shelter from those hungry falcons.”
Once a mouse is trained and orientated, they can reach the Enchanted Sanctuary to live a life of leisure. With all the moss and toadstools they can choke down, there’s plenty of time to climb various trees. QED.
“Usually, mice can see their olde prisons from the tops of trees,” explained Lieutenant Pastoral (age 43). He was also a professor, but today was his day off. “However, they’re *wise* enough to avoid eagles.”
Say You’re a mouse and You like lab puzzles and that <annoying> hum of the fluorescents. Well, maybe mouse prison isn’t so bad for You. There are gossamours afoot that focused mice can get +special+ recognition.
“Every pinkie has a shot at -Medals of Honour-,” proudly declared Scientist Bobby Bill (age 43). His clipboard was bursting with scientific documents, none of which had doodles. “I don’t doodle on my papers.”
Medals of Honour? In *this* day and age? Well, that wouldst have to be a small little medal, right? Remember, these are *mice* we’re talking about here, not galactic space pirates with chiseled jawbones and such.
“Earlier today, I hyper-spaced over here *just* to visit the Mouse Museum down on Antiquity and 43rd,” explained Pilot Dogpile (age 43). He started space pirating when he was 113 months olde, *and* he liked mice.
After lab scientists have made their point by bossing mice around, they are faced with a moral dilemna: Feed them to hungry snakes, or release them into the wild. Most lab mice will *insist* on being released.
“Don’t come back, though,” shook the scientific hairstyle of Scientist Thelma Sayers (age 43). “Your days of free cheese are *over*.” She hoped that Little Boopsie couldst become an adventure mouse on her own.
Only a despondent, existentially *shattered* lab mouse opts in for becoming snake chow. It happens. The irony is that these poor little guys couldst use the Enchanted Sanctuary most, being despondent and all.
“When? When will research labs include -Inner Sanctuaries- full of moss, mushrooms, and moderately tall trees to climb?” wondered mouse enthusiasts throughout the world. “It’s really just good manners is all.”
The Manners.
Darren Hembd, survivor of abuse that processes trauma through fiction.
more stories at: https://substack.com/@darrenhembd
every mythology of my soul opposes this
by linda m. crate
they want to rule us all
with iron fists,
gods without prayers;
trying to make the world in
an image of their own
nightmares they masquerade
as dreams—
no, thank you;
i have magic and i have
songs worth knowing,
every mythology
of my soul opposes
this—
i need water to survive,
nature to heal and restore me;
i need birdsong to nest in
my ears—
i need to touch forest trees
and moss and walk the shore
of the ocean,
but i have never needed
a billionaire or their agendas.
Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has seventeen published chapbooks the latest being: only the future knows (Alien Buddha Press, November 2025).
Prohibition
By Dean Okamura
The station that broadcast “Gentle News” was
shutdown today, after DHS raids,
FBI investigations, and DOJ court cases
bankrupted the enterprise.
No one understands why. Was it
… re-airing Mr. Rogers segments
on caring and inclusive love
became an offense to the government —
Of the People? For the People? By the
people who claimed God was on
their side — Our war is Just — Or was it
… the station offered
alternatives to buying on Amazon. Or was it
… the station refused to be
acquired by Skydance Media. Or was it
… they read banned children's
books for parents to judge for themselves
whether the books were
appropriate or inappropriate. Or was it
… characters like Harvey, the invisible
Pookah, who always had happy
words for lonely kids who needed
a friend, which became a treasure trove
for conservative preachers to find
"Pedophiliac messages from Satan's
Favorite drinking partner."
The final words from the station
From Proverbs, "A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." (*)
The government is in
the crushing spirit business.
(*) Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)
Dean resides in Torrance. There is so much happening in this world, but he can only comment in small poems.
HAD A DREAM V
By Keith Kurlander
This image is a vibrant, politically charged digital artwork, rendered in a high-contrast, multi-color halftone pop-art style. The entire scene is overlaid with a dense texture of dots and intricate patterns in cyan, magenta, red, and orange.
In the foreground Representative Justin Jones of the Tennessee Three—is shown from the torso up, looking determinedly to his right. He is wearing a dark suit with a light shirt and a traditional bolo tie. He is raising a burning object high in his left hand, which appears to be a house or structure with text on it, wrapped in the Confederate battle flag. Along the edge of the burning structure, text reads "WE WILL NOT GO BACK." The background is a riot of clashing colors and patterns. Interspersed are bold, stenciled text boxes in orange and black, which read: "I", "HAD", "A", and "DREAM." On the far right edge, a black vertical border contains the word "DISOBAY" written vertically in large, stylized, patterned letters.
Keith Kurlander “I've always been a creative soul, I make art, music, music videos, TV shows, films and mayhem."
More Art at: https://www.artpal.com/disobay & Music at https://www.idiot-savant.net/
Simile
By Heather Romero-Kornblum
I borrowed a body again
slapping on clay to buff it out
hide the underlying fragility
and identity
hollow sorrow
journey
of these original bones
This body is thick like marble
pain from one side
does not reverberate through the
insulation
This is how you build
a beast
to walk and talk
do life
when you don’t want to mend
the buried shell
of the organism
whose soul-house
you stole
A former academic researcher, Heather Romero-Kornblum returned to poetry after several near-death experiences due to Long Covid. She captures the crumbling of her marriage in the wake of her near-death experiences in I’M NOT OVER YOU – the 2025 Four Feathers Press Chapbook Contest winner. She is published in multiple journals and anthologies, most recently on Poetry Super Highway as featured Poet of the Week, in the Altadena Poetry Review Anthology 2026, Tender Hearts Club by Feather Press, with Women Who Submit in ‘This Makes up the Sky’, LA Art News Poet's Place, Four Feathers Press monthly anthologies with her poem 'Alienation' winning a 2025 Print Poetry Award, The Zest of the Lemon, on the ZZyZx WriterZ podcast, Cobalt Poets, and upcoming in Silver Birch Press’ Words of Advice Poetry & Prose Series. She also leads the weekly community Poetic Problems workshop with the Saturday Afternoon Poetry group. https://www.heatherkornbooks.com/
LOOKING FOR LOVE
3-30-26
6:32 pm
By Mary Cheung
We're all looking for love, in one form or another.
The artist wants people to love her art.
The musicians wants people to love his music.
The child wants the love of his or her mother.
We want love to fill in the empty cracks and patch up the holes.
So we can feel fulfilled and full.. of love.
In the lack of its presence, we feel empty, hollowed out, sad and lonely.
We all want to be seen, for who we truly are,
And....loved.
Mary Cheung is a multi-disciplinary artist. She has been creating art since she was little. Youngest in a family of eight. She came to America at the age of 2 and grew up in San Francisco. Attended American school during the day and Chinese school at night.
Mary has an AA degree in Fashion Design and a Best Costume Design Award from the NAACP. She often creates costumes for her art narratives and creations. She was the recipient of 3 grants in 2024 and the Denis Diderot and Emerging Artist award. She has art exhibited and published locally and Internationally.
Her real passion and drive come from being able to engage the community while bringing hope, healing, joy, and human connection. It is her goal to be able to continue to do this while making an impact on society’s values and thinking.
“I hope that I can be a role model for others to find their own true voice in life through my art."
Impression
By Michelle Smith
She's wearing
She's daring
She's Ariel by Halle Bailey
Donning a prom dress
No Little Mermaid fins to
Float to the very sea to
Not following Neptune's Net
School of dress rules
Was King Triton Dad not swimmingly
Aware of what swam through?
Her guppy curved body
All in the right places
All dolled in see-thru lace
No chance of a first or last dance tonight
Captured silhouette with
Barracuda intentions can't fin her way
To glide or dive into that fishtail itch.
Michelle Y. Smith is a Los Angeleno native and is like Stretch Armstrong, an action figure with many life, love, and laughter roles:
My heart is mother to an autistic son who is my more than my pride and joy. Sister, aunt, grand aunt, cousin, & friend. My patience is my employment am a CNA and advocate for the developmentally and elderly disabled community. My drive is published poetry in Love Letters, Acid Verse II, and Just for the People by Los Angeles Poet Society Press; anthologies and zines by DSTLArts; and Four Feathers Press zines and http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com. My poem, "There is a Sunflower" published in June was nominated by the Four Feathers Press PDF/Print Publication Awards.
THANKS FOR JOINING US!!!!
Please submit your written work to: lindakayepoetry@icloud.com
and include a short bio
Linda Kaye writes poetry, curates poetry, produces films, spoken word and art events and produces a poetry column POETS PLACE for the online publication LAARTNEWS throughout the Los Angeles area. She recently exhibited her first piece of artwork! A photograph taken in Waikiki, was represented at the Los Angeles Makery gallery’s REFLECTION:RESILIENCE show curated by the Arroyo Arts Collective. She has also been fortunate to show artwork again at the Los Angeles Makery. Her photograph, Ladispoli, Roma was included in The Quiet show April 2026.
She has published poetry in the publications, Art Block Zines 2024, 2025 & 2026, Curious Nothing vol 1&2, and the Altadena Poetry Review Anthology 2026.
Linda’s poetry events have included several summer poetry salons, and shows at the Los Angeles Makery, the Align Gallery, 50/50 Gallery, Gold Haus Gallery, Ave 50 Gallery and Rock Rose Gallery in Highland Park, The Manifesto Café in Hermon, Pilates and Arts studio in Echo Park, and Native Boutique, Zweet Café in Eagle Rock, The Los Angeles Makery in Little Tokyo. And at the Neutra Institute Gallery and Museum in Silverlake. Her first short documentary film “BORDER POETS” was a socially and politically inspired event with poets and musicians filmed at the border wall near Tecate, Mexico on the Jacumba, Ca. side of the US. The film co-produced by MUD productions is available for viewing on her website and on youtube. https://youtu.be/5Te4-dlhxco
Her rap music video project in collaboration with Mary Cheung, “ERACE-ISM” can also be seen on youtube. https://youtu.be/NfrbveNUBgg This video was accepted into the Ontario Museum of History & Art show “We the People” Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. February 2- April 16, 2023. So honored!!
And… February 19, 2022, she debuted her staged poetry production of “20 Years Left” at the historic Ebell Club in Highland Park! Two sold out shows with 2 standing ovations!! Her documentary short of the making of “20 Years Left” screened at the Highland Park Independent Film festival in 2023 and was awarded an Honorable Mention. Check out the links to reviews and the video!
https://thehollywoodtimes.today/20-years-left-new-show-performance-poetry-music/
20 Years Left youtube live stream 2/19/22
https://youtu.be/GT1D5k2EeKU
Linda Kaye is a native Angeleno who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. She claims to be both a first-generation Valley Girl, and The Original Hipster. Educated at Antioch University and Cal State Long Beach in psychology and social work. Linda, now retired from medical social work, was working for her last seven years of employment as a psychotherapist and licensed clinical supervisor for an out patient mental health clinic. She was a licensed medical social worker for 30+ years working on the front line of healthcare, a private consultant for Physicians Aid Association and for skilled nursing facilities throughout California and Arizona. She was also an adjunct assistant professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Oh yeah.
www.lindakayepoetry.com
Twitter/Instagram: lindakayepoetry
www.laartnews.com
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-linda-kaye-poet-theatrical-poetry-producer-retired-social-worker-and-professor/
http://voyagela.com/interview/daily-inspiration-meet-linda-kaye/https://
shoutoutla.com/meet-linda-kaye-poet-poetry-and-theatrical-producer-filmmaker/