Alex Hoffman-Ellis
punctuate
when i write
i often comma
where others would
period
i am slow to bring
ideas
to a close
Niamh Boyce
Danseuse Adjustant sa Bretelle
Degas caught her backstage
one arm raised, adjusting her strap.
Over a hundred years later,
she’s there, still harnessed
by that billowing skirt of light.
Niamh Boyce
After you have been Red & had adventures
you get to be the mother
who worries about her.
So look back and wave
your mother goodbye
give her a smile.
Cecilia Tekla
Un meurtrier retrouvé mort dans sa cellule
To say you killed yourself feels false
Positions you conveniently as the only culprit
Bureaucracy, to simplify, makes that make sense.
Once a killer
always a killer.
Chad Norman
Undone
As winter
abducts us
rain & snow
do not let up,
each boot
a hostage:
one lace
tightly bound,
the other
attempting
to escape
in the slush.
Jeanie Greensfelder
On Her Walk
She likes her sunrise height,
checks the street to see
who came out to play:
she climbs the phone pole,
walks the tightrope wire.
A cloud passes over.
She disappears.
Silma Pamela Smith
H.G. Wells Has Got Nothing On Me
If I had a time machine
I would go back and
change the ad copy to read:
I dreamed
I overthrew the patriarchy
in my Maidenform bra
Chet Corey
Night Rain
The hard ground
of grief
neither absorbs the tear
nor allows it to
run off.
Joel Best
in midwinter
crouch
dizzy cold
beneath
ice-bent boughs.
sit upon
hands.
they mustn’t
freeze.
does body
cherish
hands?
do hands
so deathly
white
resent
this unbearable
weight?
Fae Kayarian
Medicine is a paradox
Sometimes, being kind isn’t always right.
Sometimes, doing right isn’t always kind.
So you stand at the crossroads of Medicine, and look out in every direction.
Still no answer.
Anuja Ghimire
This lockdown may be real
I ask my daughter, eight, about her day
She says a boy shouted “Florida”
the teacher whispered “hush”
but unlocked all the doors of their lips
Contributors
Joel Best has published in venues such as Atticus Online, decomP, Crack the Spine and Apeiron Review. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and son.
Niamh Boyce writes fiction & poetry. Her debut novel The Herbalist won an Irish Book Award and was nominated for an IMPAC. Her first poetry collection will be published this year.
James Quinten Clark is a husband, father, dog owner, ex-Anglican priest, writer and teacher based in Dorset, south-west England. He blogs (most recently) at: atableinthedesert.wordpress.com
Chet Corey’s poems have previously appeared in RHP and most recently in Shark Reef. Poems are forthcoming in Coe Review and Stoneboat.
Michael J. Galko’s poetry and science explore wound healing and pain. Most recently his poems were published at The Ocotillo Review and Presence Haiku.
Anuja Ghimire was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is a Pushcart-and Best of the Net nominee. Most recently, she was published in Glass: A Journal of Poetry.
Howie Good is a pretty good speller.
Jeanie Greensfelder, author of Biting the Apple, Marriage, Other Leaps of Faith, and I Got What I Came For, has had poems published at American Life in Poetry and Writers’ Almanac; and recently in Askew and Thema.
Alex Hoffman-Ellis is a recently retired professional football player (1 year NFL, 4 years CFL) originally from Los Angeles. He has recently been splitting time between Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Portland, Oregon.
Quinn Carver Johnson was born and raised on the Kansas-Oklahoma border. He currently attends Hendrix College, where he is pursuing a degree in English with a focus in Creative Writing.
Fae Kayarian enjoys discovering sushi venues, biking during rush-hour traffic, and strumming her ukulele in parks. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Medical Encounter and Poetic Medicine.
Michael Kriesel’s the poetry editor at Rosebud. He’s in 2017’s New Poetry from the Midwest. His Zen Amen: abecedarians is forthcoming from Pebblebrook Press. Read his online chapbook with RHP, Every Name in the Book, at http://www.righthandpointing.net/michael-kriesel-every-name
Bill McCloud’s poems appear in Conclave, Red Dirt Forum, eMerge, and Dragon Poet Review. His poetry collection, The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969, was published by Balkan Press.
Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco likes running, dogs, and fish. She lives in California.
Jacob Moran is a 23-year-old college student currently living in Indianapolis, IN. He enjoys 90s Rap & Pop, and his one-eyed dog, Annie.
Victoria Nordlund teaches creative writing at Rockville High School in Vernon, CT. Her work is published in Pank Magazine, Gone Lawn, Ghost Proposal, and Amaryllis.
Chad Norman has published in journals and other literary publications around the world. He will be touring the UK this Fall. His latest collection is Selected & New Poems, Mosaic Press, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
Lynn Otto is a freelance copy editor and writing mentor in Oregon. Her collection, Real Daughter, will be available from Unicorn Press in October. See lynnottoinfo.wordpress.com.
Penelope Scambly Schott's most recent books are Bailing the River and Serpent Love: A Mother-Daughter Epic. Forthcoming is House of the Cardamom Seed. She lives in Portland and Dufur, Oregon where she teaches an annual poetry workshop.
Silma Pamela Smith has written in Brooklyn, NY; Bennington, VT; Phenix City, AL; El Dorado County, CA; and Marin County, CA.
J.R. Solonche has been publishing in magazines since the early '70s and is author of six books of poetry.
Robin Storey (cover art) is a visual artist, but is best known as the musician behind Rapoon. Under that name, Storey has released dozens of CDs of music & sound on notable independent labels such as Staalplaat, Soleilmoon, Manifold, Beta-Lactam Ring, and Lens Records.
Teresa Stouffer, a retired Special Education teacher, attends poetry workshops and events and teaches children with autism how to swim. Recently, she had three poems included in the Telepoem Booth.
Cecilia Tekla is a person. The poem is about Steve Dupuis, who was found without life in his cell at SCI Laval in 2015. Steve was a good guy. Read more here.
on to Part 2 of this issue