Photo by Andrea Walker

What a way to start 2017! We’re thrilled and honored to publish Issue 5 of Panoply, featuring works from 25 US States and 6 foreign countries. We hope you enjoy the variety once again, as Issue 5 includes poems about kissing, pregnancy, protests, politics, homages to artists and musicians, humor in many forms, recovery and redemption, some fascinating steps back in time, colorful character sketches, and more. There’s even a ditty about “breakfast cereal!” As usual, we thank our talented, visionary, and courageous contributors.

Remember that Issue 6 will be themed: Daylight. More on that as we move forward. In the meantime, enjoy Issue 5 with our compliments!

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May this year bring you joy, peace, wisdom, and good health!

Andrea, Jeff, and Ryn, Editors

Contents, Issue 5

After Her Father Died – Maria Pascualy
After Visiting the Lourdes of Lebanon – CW Emerson
The Alternative Ending – Catharine Bramkamp
Cat – Paul Vaughan
Cheering the Ponies w/God – Mike Jurkovic
The Condo – Petrula Laudato
County Fair – James Penha
Cry Havoc and Let Slip – Jennifer Highland
Discovery — 30th street, 2:56 PM – Ben Rader
Dog Day Cigarette – Alec Solomita
Exploring the Mountain Range – Martin Willitts, Jr.
From the Back Porch – Sharon Scholl
The Guest – Rowena Cooper
Harbor Mnemosyne – Caroline Simpson
Here – Kendalyn McKisick
How to Keep Your Hungry Ghost Fed – C Derick Varn
I Just Got Back – Georgia Park
If I Had a Way… – Ndaba Sibanda
If Maps Were Hummingbirds – Shankar Narayan
In Search of Meaning – Jan Wiezorek
Jackass Flats – Larisa Harriger
Jagged – Robert Beveridge
Jubilee – Daniel Fitzpatrick
Kiss – Carolyn Martin
Letter from the Great Grandchildren – Ken Poyner
Life in the Past Lane – Alan Harris
Lurk – Linda Bonafield
May 6, 988 – William Allegrezza, Garin Cycholl, Kirk Robinson
The Merchant Marine’s Lover – Matthew Schmeer – Editors’ Choice
Midnight Garden Walk, Key West – Katherine Gekker – Editors’ Choice
Near the Mine – Dustin Pickering
New York Love Poem – Daryl Sznyter
Night Sitting – Seth Jani
November Nights – Deonte Osayande
Old Photographs – Steve Klepetar
Old Woman in a Dry Season – Claire Scott
On the Inclines of a Dune – Thomas Erickson
Pregnancy Pantoum – Kari Flickinger
Prometheus – Charlotte Pocock
Punishment for Moral Deviation – Jude Marr – Editors’ Choice
Raison d’Etre Bran – Nick Romeo
Refusal – Sandra Kohler
Retire to the Netherlands – William Auten
Rhetorical/Waiting – Nate Maxson
Second Daughter Song – Jody Burke-Kaiser – Pushcart Prize Nominee
Sliver of Sunlight – Lois Marie Harrod
Take Two – Jim Ross
Teach Me to Float – Ashanti Anderson
Technique – Dennis Caswell
Third Stool from the End – JB Mulligan
The Third Trimester – Minna Dubin
A Thousand Voices Long – Scott Wiggerman
Va cantando – Susanna Lang
Van Gogh in Love – Ann Howells – Editors’ Choice
Waking – Leigh Allen – Pushcart Prize Nominee
What the Rain Forgot – James Walton
What We Need – Lea Galanter
Your Inevitable Ghost – William Doreski