POETRY: 2019
Poems published in literary journals in 2019
Published in Rogue Agent,
Issue 57, November, 2019
The bartender gave a final wipe
to the hotel bar, tucked stools
beneath tables.
We followed the signals,
rose, reluctant from hidden
loveseat, the others
now gone, one
by one, or in pairs
Published in Clementine Unbound,
October 22, 2019
These thirty days have been
without respite from storm and
cyclone, as darkness descended,
burrowed, and built a nest
Published in Halfway Down the Stairs,
September 1, 2019
I watched a cooper’s hawk stand tall
over its feathery prey this morning.
I stood stock still at my window, fixated
on the massive bird with dead mourning
dove splayed and torn beneath its talons.
Complete
the diagram.
Draw your car
and hers, and the others.
Add arrows for movement.
Show us what happened.
Published in Poetry Breakfast
August 2, 2019
I think they come
in waves of seven,
the high tides rolling
with luck and comfort,
so slowly and staying long
enough to tease permanence
Published in Poetry Breakfast
July 25, 2019
I can measure out an imaginary yard of fabric pulling
the air, right hand 36 inches from left, the motion
imprinted from one summer job thirty years past, of
hoisting, unwinding, cutting lengths of 45- and 60- inch bolts.
Published in Riggwelter,
Issue 24, August, 2019
This week I rage, have
raged, am still
simmering.
Butterflies in fluttery
panic will lose, are
losing, sanctuary
The Boy of Casa Padre and
Full of Grace
Published in The Roosevelt Borough Bulletin,
June, 2019
He sifts through the garbage
every few hours when the press
of bodies lightens for a spell, pulls
wallet-sized photos of toothless infants,
of grandparents left behind, pill bottles
and toothbrushes, sorts them into plastic bins,
catalogues the remains, and tries in vain
to untangle the endless web of rosaries,
Published in Mom Egg Review,
Vol. 17, April 2019
A family of girls knows
the unwanted will enter
closed doors, will penetrate locks
uninvited.
Published in Please See Me,
March 2019
She’s a trooper, the first doctor said,
handing me over to a second.
I am skeptical,
wary as I brace for another test.
Published in Literary Mama,
February 2019
I pull the tape measure taut
against my daughter's spine
run it around her forehead,
her chest, down her arm
marking numbers onto quick
outline penciled on a scrap
of paper as she stands tall
Published in Eunoia Review,
February 3, 2019
I get stuck on Google
Maps, zooming into memories
etched unseen in the thin lines
and shaded boundaries.
Published in Eunoia Review,
February 3, 2019
I never intended to kill the sparrows,
to scoop the bloated bodies
from deadly water with my small net
in the hesitant dew of morning.
Published in Eunoia Review,
February 2, 2019
We gas up the hearse before the hurricane
while other vehicles are turned away or stretch
in line for blocks, strange privilege of imminent
​
catastrophe, and when the day after darkens
with shadows, we slip quietly onto closed highway,
the state of emergency palpable in the silence,
Published in Eunoia Review,
February 2, 2019
As hours meant to be quiet
and easy, shuffle by,
parceled into slow
minutes, I invite you
into my narrow bed.
Published in Eunoia Review,
February 1, 2019
When we rented Room Nineteen of our own,
at the Sussex County Motor Inn, it felt
like a place one might go to die,
but not by choice.