Issue 2
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M. Kirby, The Fool and her Dog
Merie Kirby The Fool and her Dog Only one card in the classic deck features winter: the five of pentacles, the card of your own misery hobbling barefoot and inadequately clothed through snow while everyone else is snug in a building whose stained glass windows glow like vacation photos from the tropics. But here I…
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TR Poulson, Venn Diagrams
TR Poulson Venn Diagrams A circle, labeled canines, shaded blue, will always hold smaller ones inside. The wolves in midnight, dogs in sky, so close the two might touch. But what about chasers and chased? In dating apps, rings mingle like drops of paint. Blood red and sea foam dance to make dessert. I archive…
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S. Vinson, Poems
Susan Vinson Poems after Ruth Stone When you come back to meit will be crow timeand flycatcher time – Ruth Stone, “Poems”When you come back to meit will be hummingbird timeand mockingbird time,with rising choruses of cicadasbeyond the yucca plants.The ground will be powdered,cracked, and invitingdrifting seeds, brittle weeds.The hummingbirds, their iridescentbodies, whirringtoward the red…
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S. Roberts, Cervidae
Susan Roberts Cervidae A deer can cause a storm in an apple tree. Watchthe old limbs tremble at the lips’ dark gloss.A deer doesn’t travel far from where it was foaled,making it easy to track: fawn to doe to buckto shimmering tail lashed to a pickup’s hood.A deer is a kind of death: half-life of…
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J. Browne, Antrostomus
Jennifer Browne Antrostomus vociferus | Eastern Whip-poor-will Whip-poor-will, here youare, a caution appearingon the sill. Little corpse-bird, the body is alreadycold, and there is no oneelse to tell the storiesof their red-soil Alabama childhood. What can anyof us do but try to be still, be safe, feathers blendingwith the fallen leaves, and in the dark,…
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B. Ventura, Taos
Becky Ventura Taos Speaks Taos speaks thunder-rumble and water-trickleTaos speaks mountain peaks and gnarled sagebrush Taos speaks buzzing fly and prickly pear Taos speaks xeriscape, dirt, and dung beetles Taos speaks stumps, roots, evergreens, wind-whistleTaos speaks green pine cones dripping with viscous sapA robin, flying through tall trees, chirps her favorite song Becky Ventura grew…
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L. Villemaire, Books
Lois Villemaire Books Are Our Friends my mother repeatedlike a prayerteaching us to respectthose printed pages,fostering love of reading.She grew up walkingto her local library.Don’t scribble, write or color inside she often reminded as we placed the pile of picture booksfrom the library on the kitchen tableleafing through stories and poemseager to hear our favoritesour…
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L. Laderman, Captcha
Linda Laderman Captcha–I’m Human My oncology appointment was two hours ago. There’s a steady drip of wheelchairs, walkers, andcaregivers. I dip into a bowl of Life Savers and mini malted milk balls, take a juice, and wait.Behind me is a painting that covers an entire wall. A gift in memory of a woman’s beloved –…
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C. Addison, Duvet
Colleen Addison Duvet Before the operation I went sheet-shopping, hard to rest when all around you might rip. Already in pain, I stepped cautiously through the store entrance, my faltering feet drawn to the duvet covers. This year’s themes were birds, botanicals, all aspects of nature. Unaccountably though, I noted, the manufacturers had left out…
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J. Goodfellow, New Family Order
Jessica Goodfellow New Family Order As I reach down to shake awake my sleeping father,his 4 o’clock pills rattling like dice in my left hand, I don’t know which father he’ll be. He may startle awake, and know me, and be my Dad—though not the scolding dad I dodged all my life till dementia gentled…