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reflections on thee as fault~ By Suzan Alparslan

3/30/2022

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stark pink lines are marking their territory
on the inner wrists of thirteen year old girls
across america, even as my oblivious, vintage
faux-gold medusa buttons arrive at my door
from half a century ago. maybe the pain
in my lumbar spine is a message from my
overachieving great, maternal grandfather,
as if to say I suppose you could sit this one out,
enduring daughter of the daughter of the daughter.
a dried up red leaf from autumn in new york
crunches into pieces when my hand-of-destruction
reenters my jacket pocket. and the old dog
hesitating at the top of the steps makes me miss
my lost baba. out in the world, from inside my
japanese glass and steel bubble i, the observer,
take in two 20-something fems taking wide-
smiled, body positive snapshots of each other
in golden light on sunset, east of hollywood.
back home, the wet heat radiating off our new
teen’s panic-attack-back causes the need for us
to, swiftly, step (i, the stepmom) outside and
sing in the rare, dark-rain, soak in its medicine,
the tap tap tap on our up-tilted faces, a wet respite
we’re too often deprived of in the southland. a
primitive, self-taught motion compels our feet
forward and now we’re leaping in the cool
hospitality only night can host. nick drake’s
pink moon for the first time through her ears
until interrupted by the doppler effect of a motor-
cyclist’s grief over the moment he just passed
by. there is a strong undertow, dear Willow, roused
by the terrible swell that tells you, you are defective.
it will keep tugging and tugging, until you submit.
just notice it and know, centuries of blood and kismet
have gifted you this delicate casing. resist tampering
with your edges. when the harsh daylight smothers you,
love, remember the soft potency of the darker hours.
they have promised to hold our survival rituals until
our step-reflections of this night morph into your own.


Author Bio:
Suzan Alparslan’s poems have been published in several journals including Poeticdiversity, Pedestal Magazine and  Smartish Pace.  She  holds an MFA in poetry from Antioch University and was a proud mentor at writegirl.org. Suzan writes, massages and makes art in Los Angeles where she lives with her interspecies family.
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Mere Fragments~ By James Kibby

3/29/2022

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You are beautiful.

I wish I could express it well.
But there are no colors vibrant enough
And no words pure enough
To capture it fully.

I am left to offer mere fragments,
Pieces of a mosaic
That would take more than my life
To complete.

I wish there were something beyond, "I love you."
I wish there were a more delicate shape than a heart,
With its curves like the neck of two swans
Joined together in their Spring affair.

I wish there were a deeper red.
I wish there were something softer than rose petals.
To rest my hope on metaphor
Would be a betrayal.

I am broken by this inability to express
What is inexpressible in the crude nature
Of human communication,
But it's all I have.

So, like a man down on his luck
In a last-ditch game of poker, I play all of my cards.
Not to win a small sum; I want to lose everything,
That my love would be purely enraptured

In your tender embrace.


Author Bio:
James is an accomplished songwriter and aspiring poet whose love for creative writing began when he authored and illustrated his first comic book at age 11. James' poetry was featured recently in Calla Press, and he's currently working on publishing his first collection of poems. James is a devoted husband and father and works full time at his church, handling facility and media operations.
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The Bachelor Seal~ By M.F. Nagel

3/28/2022

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The bachelor seals come morning star and evening star
Alone and together one and another
Salt and tide
Wave upon wave sons of the daughters of the seven seas
Young and strong and
Reckless
Storming the shore from the black pebbled seas

Storming
They come
Wave upon wave salt and tide young and strong and reckless
Choking the sea-weeded shores rocky with blood and moon stones
Barking-; on the mad wind under
Heaven’s sky scarred hungry heavy with three legged dog stars

The old ones know
And wait fat and proud wait with their women fat and proud
Knowing
Knowing
The way of things
Hearing the roars mad roars wild howls on the winds the old ones fat and proud and knowing heave their chests over the rickety rookery fence
The rickety rookery fence rolling to black pebbled sea
Fat and proud they watch and wait and know
Know the way of things

The bachelor seals come alone and together
Salt and tide
Wave upon wave
Sons of the daughters of seven seas
Young and strong and
Reckless
Storming the shore
From the black pebbled sea walrus deep whale deep
The bachelor seals come
Sons of the daughters of the seven seas
Waiting for harvest


Author Bio:
M.F. Nagel was born in Alaska. Her Athabaskan and Eyak heritage has given her a love of poetry.
M.F. lives and writes near the banks of the Matanuska river in the Palmer Butte, among the moose, wild dog~ roses and cottonwood trees, drawing inspiration from her ancestors.

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