sprovence
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M. Diedericks, UFOs and Euphemisms
Megan Diedericks UFOs and Euphemisms When the shooting staris just an alien spacecraft,be carefulwhat you wish for. Megan Diedericks writes poetry and fiction; everything from meek to macabre can be found in between the lines. The 2025 Rhysling Award Nominee is the author of the darkest of times, the darkest of thoughts (2022, self-published) and…
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M. Duncan, Until I Met You I Was Merely Human
Margie Duncan Until I Met You I Was Merely Human Turtle loves its shell, that weighty carapacethat makes anywhere on earth a home, and shell loves its turtle, the promenadethrough any thicket toward adventure.You’re my palankeen through brush and storm,and I’m your speckled shelter from the beasts,though there’s an argument to be made for the…
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M. Sterling, Sonnet for the Janus Bird
Meghan Sterling Sonnet for the Janus Bird In the dream, I was writing a poem for a two-headedbird. I only remember the last line—the self, past and current. Current as in the pull of the sea. Current as in the electric truth of who I have become. How much I have changed, wild bird. Even…
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J. Simms, On Becoming an Albatross
Jess Simms On Becoming an Albatross You were not born to be a burden. When you soar the wind is freedom, weightless over endless water. It is only when on land that you are heavy, a vessel filled by others’ guilt, your wings slacked by their violence. They don’t care to hear of the distant…
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J. Simms, On Becoming a Unicorn
Jess Simms On Becoming a Unicorn You have big hooves to fill. All that talk of magic and beauty, rainbows and purity—it’s a lot to live up to. You’re just a horse with a horn, when it comes down to it, and it’s exhausting to kill the same dream over and over and over. So…
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J. Simms, On Becoming a Great Auk
Jess Simms On Becoming a Great Auk You were king, once. Before strangers invaded, you ruled benevolent, a giant in small lands, so secure in your belonging, you lost the knowledge of flight. Once upon a time, your bones were seen as holy, your feathers magic. And they were, once. When you needed for nothing.…
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A. Tillmans, New Year’s Eve
Andrea Tillmanns New Year’s Eve At first, we only saw the exploding lights, as we do every year. But when they were supposed to go out, they refused, seeking a common shape instead.Just as scales enveloped a fish and defined its shape, scaly lights shifted until they enveloped an air-filled body in the air and…
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L. H. Ayers, Gratitude for What Is Seen & Unseen
Lana Hechtman Ayers Gratitude for What Is Seen & Unseen a haibunSudden moonlight slipping out of night sky’s sleeve of clouds. I want to name it foolhardy, but isn’t it something else? The mirror that holds your beloved’s breath after they’ve gone. The ladybug circling the glass of a sealed window. Lonely frog singing his…
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D. Brookshire, Rising Water Villanette
Dustin Brookshire & Kerry Trautman Rising Water Villanelle A contoured villanelle using “Little L.A. Villanelle” by Carol Muske-DukesWithout the threat of flood, I could learn to love the rain.Last fall, our neighborhood pond overflowed—rising, receding, and rising in seasonal refrain.We waded in water six inches deep, a pain-wicking cold up my shins. Cars sped past…
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J.K. Hare, Night Music
J Kramer Hare Night Music Our dishwasher is water tumbling over stone: a laminar, clear column, water smoothly breaksand clings to stone, polishing and polishing. Our dishwasher is a beehive near the waterfall:ever industrious, the laborers sing their labor’sdroning harmony, chorusing and chorusing.The waterfall and beehive (which together arethe dishwasher) hide around the corner fromour…