My poems, “Exile” and “Sleepless” are live at the fist issue of Pineberry Literary Journal. Many thanks to the editorial team for taking these pieces.
Poems Up at Pineberry Literary Journal
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Tag Archives: creative writing
Poem Up at Vox Populi
My poem, “Dream Score,” is live at Vox Populi. Many thanks to editor Michael Simms for his support and kindness over the years.
Debut Poets’ Interview Series Up at Only Poems
I recently participated in the debut poet interview series at Only Poems. If you aren’t aware of Only Poems, you owe it to yourself to check out this powerhouse of poetry. The editorial team, Shannan Mann, Karan Kapoor, Justine Payton and Svetlana Litvinchuk is nonpareil. I’m delighted (an understatement) at having been able to work with this group.
Poem Up at Elysium Review
My poem, “Restaurant of Dreams,” is live at Issue 5 of Elysium Review . Many thanks to editor Stevie Edwards for taking this piece.
Poem Up at Third Wednesday
My poem, “Ghazal of the Birds,” is live at Third Wednesday. Many thanks to editor David Jibson and the Third Wednesday team for taking this ghazal.
Poems Live at Skeleton Flowers Press
My poems “Another Sunrise, Another Moon,” and “One Becomes Two” are live at Skeleton Flowers Press. I am grateful to the editors for taking these pieces, and to poet-musician Tara Linda for providing the title “Another Sunrise, Another Moon” during a fundraiser for Brick Street Poetry a few years ago.
Does It Have Pockets: Best of the Net Nomination
I am thrilled to report that my prose poem “Metastases” has been nominated for a Best of the Net award by Does It Have Pockets. I am grateful to editor Camille Griep and her team for publishing and nominating this piece.
Letter to Harper from Halfway to the Horizon
Letter to Harper from Halfway to the Horizon
Dear Stephanie: No one connects here, and no matter
how resolutely we trudge forward, ignoring spinal fusions
and attacking hearts, the line skips lightly ahead, mocking us,
I think, in that way only the ineffable may claim. Looking
out, I see a lone wren, clouds filtering the stars, and strands
of barbed wire looped like question marks around cedar
stumps, punctuating the day’s greeting. No answers there,
only more inquiries blanching under the sun. But this
is my febrile landscape, not your lush green headed by
gray. Nothing matters, or, everything’s imperative.
In this gnarled season I can’t tell which, although
the vulture ripping into a squirrel carcass on my
suburban front lawn tells me something ain’t quite
right. Full or empty, the glass is still a glass, despite
my propensity for seeking more, whether cava or beer
or yes, enlightenment. I fear this reveals too much
about me, and wonder if I should draw the shade or
keep tugging it higher, admitting more light. Have you
ever noticed that half often amounts to less the closer
you get to it, each portion diminishing, divided by two,
and again, until only a thin shadow vaguely resembling
the original shape remains? Perhaps this is how we’re
meant to exit as failures on this field. The horizon’s
still there, red stroking green, clouds feathering in,
and maybe if we keep walking we’ll reach it in a sunburst
of doves and glittering red dahlias. Yeah, right. In the
meantime, let’s multiply our losses and sculpt another
morning truer than its source, stronger than its media. Our
optimism has already blown this joint. What else have we
got to lose? I remain, as ever, yours in insolence, Bob.
Originally penned in January 2017, “Letter to Harper from Halfway to the Horizon” was published in MockingHeart Review in May 2018. When I wrote it, I had no inkling of what was to come. I knew only that Stephanie L. Harper was truly special and that I looked forward to our daily communiques. We lived 2,000 miles apart! Little did I know that in a few short years we’d come together in Indianapolis (now that was never on my Bingo card!), to build a home, a life, together. I have led a charmed existence. I love this woman!
Poem Up at Wildness
My poem, “A Lot of Nothings,” is live at wildness. Many thanks to editor Michelle Tudor for supporting my work over the years.
Stephanie L. Harper’s Poems in The Iowa Review
Stephanie L. Harper, my spouse, my partner-in-life, my love, my inspiration, my editor, my everything, has two poems in the latest edition of The Iowa Review. This is THE BIG TIME! The list of writers published in the pages of this major journal include the likes of Jorge Luis Borges, Anne Carson, Louise Gluck, Jorie Graham, Kurt Vonnegut, and many, many others we can only hope to emulate. Now Stephanie’s rubbing (metaphoric) elbows with them. I am so proud of Stephanie and so happy for her, because I know, I’ve seen, how hard she’s worked at her craft. One of the two poems illustrates this commitment to the art: “Pelvic Organ Prolapse” is an “in-titled” poem. Created by Stephanie, this form is composed exclusively of the letters appearing in its title, with no letter occurring within any individual word in the poem more times than it does in its title. To say the least, it is a maddening form to attempt. But here it is, within the pages of The Iowa Review!
O at the Edges 