Poet Pick – Shutta Crum

Norma Jeane ~after Milton Greene’s Marilyn Monroe—Ballerina Sittingpoor Milton—I’ve kept him waitinghe wants me to pose againthey’ve gathered meinto a see-through poof of netting—a kind of tutu—all flounces and fussthe bodice, too small (of course)can’t be zippedI hold it against my breastshe wants Marilyn—and I bring herlips parted—he says, needierand I do that—lifting my browsa […]

Poet Pick – Sean Whalen

Crow at Dawncocks a black pearlto the impending lightfolds his wings over a holein the canopy of treesbinds the fabric of his cloaktighter to the earthcollects the glitter of starsthe barking of dogsthe crawling of grubsthe screams of doomedfowl in his throatwhets his beakalong the scaled branchuntil it is sharpas the wind on the edgeof […]

Poet Pick – Sarah Banks

Elegy for a Pine TreeThe pine stressed by droughtdied last summer. Beetles attacked,bored holes through the bark.Here, in chilly air, its branches shedtheir copper needles. Pointy pompomsdrop from scaly limbs. No spearmint spikesflicker through the winter,but pitch tubes dot the trunk—sticky clusters of popcorn sapthe tree expelled, an attempt to blockthe beetles from the inner […]

Poet Pick – Roy N. Mason

Don’t Make it Difficult I like sad songs—death, longing and love wrapped in bubblegumMost sing along blind—swaying hips, tapping toesunaware they’re in the throes Not long ago I was doing a random writing prompt search one afternoon and came across the following- Prompt: Playing with word meanings (https://nadjamaril.com/2024/10/14/creative-writing-playing-with-word-meanings/) The word I chose was bubblegum. I’ve […]