sprovence
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A. Dribben, Spotted
Angela Dribben Spotted Touch Me Not Each flower hangsas an opulent orange mouth tangerine tongue lip-draped red spots ride the lickAs husks maturethe lightest touch expels their seedsDehiscence—the splitting or bursting open of a bur or woundSometimes the lightest touch is love Sometimes our armor must split open Angela Dribben is an astrologer and writer…
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H. Gray, It’s Like That
Hannah Jacqueline Gray it’s like that moment on a swing it’s like that moment on a swing,reaching the highest point,that feeling in your stomach whereyou feel suspended in the stale air,about to fall and crumple to the ground,a body on the concrete.that inky blackness—but somethinginnocuous—a sort of weight pressing against you.or maybe it’s coming from…
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E. Murphy, Rhododendron
Erin Murphy Rhododendron I want a rhododendron, its waxy evergreen leaves, its bursts of purple in early spring. NoI want to be a rhododendron, sprawling yet hardy, a woman who sits on the bed’s edge and leans into your story while massaging lotion into her tapered arms and legs. Or maybe I want the word…
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L. Ayers, No One
Lana Hechtman Ayers No One Told Me All summer I was on edge.Grass dried to dust.Johnny jump ups supine by noon.Bees creaking along.Butterflies asleep in the yarrow.Our dog burying himself beneath hostas.My brother fried an egg on the hood of Dad’s Pontiac.He only had to try it once.Apocalyptic ripples of heat waves like bad omens.Wind…
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A. Burris, Bibliophile
Allison Burris Bibliophile I could have fallen in love with books for the sound alone,the crackle of a spine, the whisper of my thumb along the edge,volumes could be written about the turning of a single page,or that thrum, flapping paper wobbles when you shakethe binding. The flicker of flipping through pages, never quite like…
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Chen Chen, Evening
Ariana Yeatts-Lonske Evening at the World Bird Sanctuary The room is an egg.We are inside the egg, and the barred owlcan hear our heartbeats.The barred owl can hear the whisperof mice feet under snow.The barred owl is here because the first face he saw was beakless. Irreversible illegal imprint—He wants to mate with all of…
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A. Yeatts-Lonske, Evening
Ariana Yeatts-Lonske Evening at the World Bird Sanctuary The room is an egg.We are inside the egg, and the barred owlcan hear our heartbeats.The barred owl can hear the whisperof mice feet under snow.The barred owl is here because the first face he saw was beakless. Irreversible illegal imprint—He wants to mate with all of…
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A. Stenzel, Could you
Annie Stenzel Could you watch something die and let it? With a mayfly, you must. An adult mayfly’s life is one long day, and then curtains. First, Ephemera vulgata, your two years or so as larvae, occupying crevices on a rocky bottom. Then, underwater, creepingover the river bed as newly-hatched little nymphs, you cleanse your…
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D. Allen., Bliss
Dee Allen. Bliss Stuffed burrito, freed from foil, wrapped repastIn a spinach tortilla, enjoyed on a blanket on the grass.Guacamolé, rice, salsa & black bean goodness, savoured with a friend.Hers, wrapped in wheat. Bottled orange juice, red grapes for meal’s end.Picnic for two, in awe of in-progess biology.Twittering birds, insects fly, sunshine in the lap…
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M. Talley, Sunflowers
Mary Ellen Talley Sunflowers Dinnerplate discsrise, bend,and kiss driveway concrete.I rescue a handfulwhile still-fresh yellowpetals spread.Now faces bright as a birthdayemerge from a tall vasein the room where you slept.I discard withered facesand dump tall stalksin the yard waste bin,tie the last tall blooms to a fence postas the seasons face change. Mary Ellen Talley’s…