sprovence
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N. Prater, Balance
Nina Prater Balance I like to dull the knivesand youlike to sharpenthem. Nina Prater is the author of Under the Canopy of Unpruned Leaves, a poetry chapbook published by Belle Point Press. Her poems have also been published by One Sentence Poems, Buddhist Poetry Review, Literary Mama, and A Revolutionary Press. Nina and her family…
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M. Mitchell, Time and the Onions
Mark J. Mitchell Time and the Onions For herself You build the soup slowly. She’s gone awayfor mercy. She’s coming home tomorrowand soup’s better that next day. The onionswant to soften, grow gold. You’ve just begun.Let them melt into broth and get to knoweach herb, meet the barley. A second daywill do it. They’ll grow…
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J. Browne, Lumbricus
Jennifer Browne Lumbricus terrestris | Common Earthworm Eyeless, earthworms tunnelroot-paths, routes for water. Nothing appears without something readying its way. Last night, I drove a moon-bright road, thought of the other ones you’ve loved. Could there ever be a word to name what they made inyou, what they broke open? I taste a bit of…
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L. Faber
Louis Faber Occasionally I can still remember that day in San Francisco, on Columbusjust down from City Lights Books,a young man sitting on a milk crateanother in front of him on whichhe perched an old typewriter.“A dollar buys you a poem”he said with a mix of hopeand resignation, his fingers poised over the worn keys,…
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D. LeBlanc, Papyrophilia
Diane LeBlanc Papyrophilia In my next life, let me be cotton rag paper.All fiber and fade-resistant. Tear me. Wet me. Ink me.Choose me to announce your everything.Find in me my grandmother’s house dressesmissing belts and buckles, pockets and butterscotch.Then trust me with stories debossed in ten-point pica deep enough to read in the dark.I’ll carry…
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C. Hailey
Cathy Hailey A Curious Place after Pat Brodowski’s painting, “Reflections of 1904”A house of glass, swathed in sunlight,summons us through a portico passageway,its two-storied windows framed in white,a palimpsest of yesterdays, the composite layers of at least a century plus a score, in a picturesque shop of curiosity and comfort.A house of mirrors, reflecting its…
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Z. Blaylock, Some Poets
Zoë Blaylock Some Poets kneel on hard ground to write ’em and leave ’em folded like losing hands of solitaire Zoë Blaylock’s work has appeared in La Piccioletta Barca, The Westchester Review, Amsterdam Quarterly, Innisfree Poetry Journal, and in other publications. She lives in San Diego. Back to Issue
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T. Campbell
Tara Campbell Blue Gloves and Pink Roses A weird thing happened to me at the airport once. I came up to security with my ticket and my bags and my stress, and they sent me through that scanner thingy, and I raised my hands like the little picture says, and then the lady on the…
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C. Grannick, Bossy
Carol Coven Grannick Bossy Safe on the sillmorning birdsdemand the dawn. Carol Coven Grannick is a poet for children and adults, with most recent publications in Loch Raven Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Snkroniciti, and more. Her middle grade novel, Reeni’s Turn, debuted in 2020 from Regal House Publications. Back to Issue
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M. Kellichner, Alchemy
Micheal Kellichner Alchemy All my focus to read a novel aloud,paragraphs of Korean characters,lumped, systematic syllable blocks. Soundsyou—held together, now, with sutures—pulled from my mouth across a fumbling tongue.Meticulous as ancient ritual,heavy and awkward as lead. Barely onechapter finished near midnight’s silent lull.These are meaningless sounds to me. Evenfamiliar sentences sink, suffocatein the surrounding incomprehension,like…