POETRY LIT PICKS _ VOL. 8
~ highlights and recommendations from recent issues of literary journals ~
by Mark Danowsky, Managing Editor for the Schuylkill Valley Journal
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Shot Glass Journal
Issue 30, January 2020
http://www.musepiepress.com/shotglass/mary-michelle_decoste1.html
Mary-Michelle DeCoste – About My Son
[excerpt]
I have written poems about my mother, father, neighbours, lovers, friends,
more poems about my mother,
poems about people I don't know, but
I have written no poems about my son.
*
8 Poems
Issue 2.8 (February 2020)
https://8poems.com/issue-28#/dichotomy/
Satya Dash – Dichotomy
[excerpt]
Something in the way parents fight
suggests there’s a chance you might suck
at love
*
jubilat
No. 36
http://www.jubilat.org/jubilat/archive/issue36/something-about-the-pink-sky/
Kevin Latimer – Something about the Pink Sky
[excerpt]
my mother says, there is something wrong
with a boy who won't finish his dinner before his dessert
*
Juke Joint
Issue 9 (Feb. 2020)
https://www.jukejointmag.com/robert-okaji
Robert Okaji – Looking Ahead He Looks Back
[excerpt]
Harsh
night words and the photos of
a wooden lighthouse from a
discarded life.
*
TYPO
Issue 31
http://www.typomag.com/issue31/ritvo.html
Victoria Ritvo – The Place
[excerpt]
I want to notice everything
so I can imagine
*
unearthed
December 2019 issue
https://unearthedesf.com/adinakopinsky/
Adina Kopinsky – Tu B’shvat
[excerpt]
How is it that one day ends
with dishes clean on the counter
rack, scrubbed like teeth
and fingernails, clean and simple
gratitude, purple haze
*
Toho Journal
Fall 2019 (Place)
https://www.tohopub.com/the-roadtrip-began
Adriana Rewald – The Roadtrip began with a Monumental Act of Destruction
[excerpt]
The sun
rose fast and the spider was light on my mind.
*
Headway Lit
Issue 5
https://www.headwaylit.org/liu-daohang-someone-elses-dream-r
Liu Daohang – Someone Else’s Dream
[excerpt]
God says:
Who owns the colors?
Who gave them their colors?
*
Harbor Review
Issue 4 (Self)
https://www.harbor-review.com/issue-4-self
Alison Stone – More
[excerpt]
Thought I teach, No sexist stereotypes,
my daughter claims, Boys talk about poo more.
*
Halfway Down The Stairs
March 2020 (Milestones)
https://halfwaydownthestairs.net/2020/03/01/the-morning-by-maryann-hurtt/
Maryann Hurtt – the morning
[excerpt]
the creek is dry
and vanilla scent blossoms
are long gone
but still my father hovers
*
Into The Void
Issue 15
https://intothevoidmagazine.com/article/in-the-sun/
Jim Trainer – In the Sun
[excerpt]
you can say you know the cost
or just own it—all, foibles
*
The Rupture
Issue 107
https://www.therupturemag.com/
William Fargason – Elegy with a Wavelength of Sound
https://www.therupturemag.com/rupture/elegy-with-a-wavelength-of-sound
[excerpt]
That was the summer I thought I was healthy enough
to come off the meds completely
Karin Barbee – The Garden
https://www.therupturemag.com/rupture/the-garden
[excerpt]
The sunflowers. Don’t get me started.
*
Across The Margin
February 2020
https://acrossthemargin.com/four-poems-by-robin-sinclair/
Robin Sinclair – Chronicle on Mirrored Ceiling
[excerpt]
I’m simply scars from chicken pox
the ones I hide –
back and ass toward the wall before the lights go out
when I’m sober-fucking someone new.
*
Sandpiper
Issue 2
https://www.sandpipermag.com/2-poetry-john-grey.html
John Grey – Farewell
[excerpt]
I’ll be the dutiful gangster
and take my memories for a ride.
*
Otoliths
Issue 56 (Southern Summer, 2020)
Amy Barone – Getting in Tune
https://the-otolith.blogspot.com/2020/01/amy-barone.html
[excerpt]
It took decades to know
you were better off without them.
Thought Italians are supposed to love family.
Kristin Garth – Denmark
https://the-otolith.blogspot.com/2019/12/kristin-garth.html
[excerpt]
If asked,
one word uttered, Denmark, becomes a key
*
Failbetter
vol. 62
https://www.failbetter.com/content/reclamation-star-athlete
Samn Stockwell – Reclamation of the star athlete
[excerpt]
We think his best effort effortless
*
The Adroit Journal
Issue 32
Imani Davis – FYI, The Moon is a Femme Top
https://theadroitjournal.org/issue-thirty-two/imani-davis-poetry/
[excerpt]
Yes, the boy hovers
above you, a generic ruffle
of gasp & ohmygod.
Kim Addonizio – Ghosted
https://theadroitjournal.org/issue-thirty-two/kim-addonizio-poetry/
[excerpt]
Darling, there are plenty of nameless alleys
*