Tag: Poetry

Madeira Miller: “On Ownership”

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On Ownership

My hair has always been mine
and my clothes were always
equal parts mine and my sister’s;
my glasses are mine, even though
I don’t wear them often these days.
They are mine nonetheless.
But when you ask me,
‘to whom does your body belong?’
I can only recite the names
of a handful of people
whom I cannot look in the eye:
a trusted adult, a classmate
from a few years back,
the guy at the bar who didn’t
bother to ask my name, or
really any questions before
placing his hands on my
body-that-isn’t-quite-mine
and I laughed it off to my
friends because that’s just
what you do when a weird guy
does weird shit: you laugh
it off and then you go home.
Home, to me, is an apartment
with a lock that still hasn’t been
fixed and walls I can’t paint
because, even though I pay
my rent on time, it’s not really
mine. Is anything really mine
if my own flesh isn’t mine?
The first man I ever loved
and allowed access to this
body-that-isn’t-quite-mine
did not return my call when
I told him about a pregnancy
test that I had to take in the
Freudenberger Residence Hall
communal bathroom, alone.
In that moment, this trembling
body-that-isn’t-quite-mine
was a thing that he no longer
wanted to claim, as if it now
belonged to someone else
with a heartbeat just like the
pounding one in my chest, which
didn’t feel like my own. That was
four years ago, back when
I at least had the option to make a
difficult choice regarding this
body-that-isn’t-quite-mine,
and I still do not know how to reclaim
the bodily autonomy that
has been stolen from me
time and time again since I
was a little girl on the playground,
a frightened teenager in a dorm,
a tired adult watching the news.
Now, when you ask me,
‘to whom does your body belong?’
I will recite the names
of nine Supreme Court Justices.

About the Author: Madeira Miller is a writer and poet seeking a creative writing degree at Missouri State University. Her work appears in ‘Dreamstones of Summer’ by WinglessDreamer, ‘Praised by December’ by WinglessDreamer, Every Day Fiction Online Magazine, F3LL Digital Magazine, The Gateway Review Literary Magazine, ‘My Cityline by WinglessDreamer,’ The Bookends Review Creative Arts Journal, ‘Sea or Seashore’ by WinglessDreamer, Bridge Eight Press, In Parentheses Literary Magazine, Dipity Literary Magazine, Abstract Literary Magazine, Academy of the Heart and Mind Literary Magazine, and New Note Poetry Magazine.

Image Credit: Helene Schjerfbeck “Girl with Orange, The Baker’s Daughter” (1908) Public domain image courtesy of Artvee.

Victor Clevenger: “Wednesday Morning”

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Wednesday Morning

all the construction workers running about trying
to wrap it all up     & i’m in my black car stopped
sitting smackdab in a construction zone next to
summer beaten cornfields showing their rust
yellow browning tassels     silks & stalks     to my
left     a solid baker’s dozen of volunteer sun-
flowers creamy to bright gold circling mahogany &
flowing seamlessly into green & at the ground
below them are twice as many pale-blue bronze
rose deep-purple irises in a roadside ditch

                        sudden rain causing
                        distortion— imagine
                        a van gogh

About the Author: Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing.  Selected pieces of his work have appeared in print magazines and journals around the world. He is the author of several collections of poetry including A Finger in the Hornets’ Nest (Red Flag Poetry, 2018), Corned Beef Hash By Candlelight (Luchador Press, 2019), A Wildflower In Blood (Roaring Junior Press, 2020), Scratching to Get By (Between Shadows Press, 2021), and 47 Poems (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2022).  Together with American poet John Dorsey, they run River Dog.

Image Credit: Chase Dimock “Sunflower” (2021)

John Dorsey: “What to Do After You Don’t Die on the Table”

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What to Do After You Don’t Die on the Table

get up
write a few things down
shake
thinking
they missed something.

About the Author: John Dorsey is the former poet laureate of Belle, Missouri and the author of Pocatello Wildflower. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.

Image Credit: “Operating room – eye institute” Public domain image courtesy of the Library of Congress

Rusty Barnes: “Homage to Jim Harrison”

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Homage to Jim Harrison

The grackle with its blue head
dunks violently his beak

in the bird bath while chickadees
and starlings battle the squirrels

for sustenance. Cars power by here
in the city and squirrels rush the street

for lack of places to run. On the porch
with my one-eyed dog,

I run my weathered hand on his
head and search fruitlessly for

the Zen moment like Jim Harrison's
dogs betray their owner's point of view.

I keep his grizzled nose pointed at
the source and breathe in his wisdom.

About the Author: Rusty Barnes lives with his family and a horde of cats in Revere MA. His work appears widely, and his most recent chapbook is DEAR SO & SO.

Image Credit: John James Audubon “Purple Grackle” Public domain image courtesy of Artvee

Melanie Browne: “Day -hab driver”

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Day -hab driver

I pick him
up from his
day hab program
he is smiling
but I give him a Tylenol
because it is raining
and I don’t know
what to expect

On those days
Elvis, the Beatles
or kidz bop?
I ask him
praying it’s not
the last one

A horrible station
where they auto tune
kids singing
bubble gum pop songs
he chooses the Beatles
and smiles when I sing
along to day tripper

We turn on
South Main Street
not far from
The whataburger
where I gave
the drifter who
approached my window
seven dollars

His left eye
looking straight
at me
his right eye
a one way
ticket out

About the Author: Melanie Browne is a poet and fiction writer from Texas. She has been published in several anthologies including This is Poetry Volume IV: Poets of the South and Cowboys &Cocktails Poetry from the True Grit Saloon.

Image Credit: Esther Bubley “Bus trip from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Washington, D.C. Looking out of bus window in Tennessee” (1943) Public domain image courtesy of the Library of Congress

Gwil James Thomas: “17. 07. 2023”

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17. 07. 2023

From the balcony -
empty Taco Bell cups 
race down the street 
like hysterical kids.
 
Hollyhocks thrash 
against one another 
in the wind.
  
Summer is sick 
and I run my finger 
along the balcony rail, 
feeling the tender 
warmth from the lingering 
touches of sunshine.
 
When the storm arrives, 
I am far too interested 
in watching it unfold 
to care about what’s been.

I want 
nothing more than 
for change, 
to always feel this way.

About the Author: Gwil James Thomas is a poet, novelist and inept musician. He lives in his hometown of Bristol, England but has also lived in London, Brighton and Spain. His twelfth chapbook of poetry Wild River Carry me to Sea will be published soon by Back Room Poetry. His poems have recently featured in Viper’s Tongue, DLF Lit, Paper & Ink, The Songs From The Underground anthology and Late Britain Zine. He plans to one day build a house, amongst other things. Instagram: @gwiljamesthomas

Image Credit: Herman Saftleven “A Hollyhock” (1682) Public domain image courtesy of Artvee

Hilesh Patel: “Cast them into the wind”

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Cast them into the wind

We arrive at the shore
eroded since we were last here
& recite the first line of a prayer
water is water is water.

At home, my wife puts her hand
on my own to stop me from
adding too much masala to the pot.
After dinner I carry our child,
sunburnt & sleepy, to their bed
where they ask for a story.

There are the things they don’t tell you about grief.
It can be the sound of blood running across the sky
& also the softest brush of a wing.

I get up to turn off the light and put down the book
one more chapter? I ease back down
gently sweep the sand from the floor & begin.

About the Author: Hilesh Patel is a writer, consultant, educator, artist and member of the art group The Chicago ACT Collective. He was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and has called Chicago home for most of his life. His work has been published in Passengers Journal, Relief Journal, Jaggery and others. You can find him most days teaching adjunct classes, reading, grinding cardamom, and on Instagram and Twitter at @hilesh. 

Image Credit: Hugo Simberg “The Wind Blows” (1897) Public domain image courtesy of Artvee

M.J. Arcangelini: “Your Gift of Stars”

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YOUR GIFT OF STARS
Sic itur ad astra – Virgil
for Bruce


Around 1 AM we bounced seven miles out a rough dirt
Road, through locked gates, into the mountains to arrive

At Karen’s uninhabited trailer, which she spent all the
Previous afternoon cleaning, then making up a bed we

Could use for what was left of the night. She stocked it
With bottles of water, freshly drawn from her springs.

She showed me how to work the generator, and
Pointed out that we would need to pee outside, then

She drove down the steep hill to her place, leaving us
With flashlights to make our way around. Once we

Settled in, you disappeared into the cold air of the yard.
I found you gazing at a broad, clear sky dense with stars.

Excited, you pointed out the various constellations to me,
Especially the ones you could seldom see anywhere else,

Telling me some of the ancient stories behind them, 
How they came to be ensconced in the night sky.

It seemed that the new moon had politely excused herself
From the scene just so you could index the constellations

Then hand them to me with their interconnections revealed, a
Gift which I would never have requested, but will never forget


begun 07/01-29/2023
Santa Rosa, CA
events occurred the early morning of 06/18/2023
Yorkville Ranch Road, Mendocino County, CA

About the Author: M.J. Arcangelini, (b.1952, Pennsylvania) has resided in northern California since 1979. He has published extensively in both print and online venues & over a dozen anthologies.  He is the author of 6 published collections, the most recent of which is PAWNING MY SINS, 2022 (Luchador Press).

Image Credit: Henri-Edmond Cross “Landscape with Stars” Public domain image courtesy of Artvee

Rose Mary Boehm: “On Reflection”

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On Reflection

How is it done? In coloured pencils with washes
and masks, blenders and frisket film.
And if I take your face and mask your eyes,
leave them white or fill them with ash, what then?
Where will you go when I pull off that frame,
how will you round out if I withhold
the shading, will water wash on wax
and will your skin fall off when I use
the eraser on that highlight I left in your hair?

The perfume on the tux you wore
when you were speaking before your peers
is getting old and brackish.
The wardrobe is full of past events
for which I do not take responsibility. When
you wanted your image back it had crumpled.

About the Author: Rose Mary Boehm is a German-born British national living and writing in Lima, Peru, and author of two novels as well as seven poetry collections. Her poetry has been published widely in mostly US poetry reviews (online and print). She was twice nominated for a ‘Pushcart’, once for ‘Best of Net’. Her latest: DO OCEANS HAVE UNDERWATER BORDERS? (Kelsay Books July 2022), WHISTLING IN THE DARK (Cyberwit July 2022), and SAUDADE (December 2022) are available on Amazon. A new MS, LIFE STUFF, has been scheduled by Kelsay Books for February 2023. https://www.rose-mary-boehm-poet.com/

Image Credit: Honoré Daumier “Head of a Man V” Public domain image courtesy of Artvee

Ed Ahern: “Gloria Mundi”

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Gloria Mundi

I am in title his executor,
de facto the chief mourner.
He lived his adult life alone
but did die with company-
a hired tender and me.

A man who admitted
to fallibility but rarely
to vices or wrongdoing,
a man so private that I
read his past in his papers.

I buried and eulogized him
and marshalled all the wealth
he’d been reluctant to spend,
hard earned but not enjoyed,
for distribution to strangers.

I was perhaps his closest friend
and huckster for the indulgences
I wanted him to give himself,
but now must strew his measure
to the unknowing and the greedy.

About the Author: Ed Ahern resumed writing after forty odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He’s had over four hundred fifty stories and poems published so far, and eight books. Ed works the other side of writing at Bewildering Stories, where he sits on the review board and manages a posse of eight review editors.

Image Credit: Charles Aubrey “Flower Still Life” Public domain image courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program.