Ode to the Onion
How well you deserve a poem of your own sweet Vidalias,
Loyalties, Savannah
Nellie Gordon died alone in her bed; her son's wife, waiting in a room adjacent, watched William Gordon's apparition
Abandoned
I have always been fascinated by abandoned and neglected spaces, both in metaphor and in image. How do the places we initially create survive once we leave them? How do they slowly fold back into the surrounding world? Where are the marks of us underneath tangled vines, broken windows, empty doorframes?
St. Simons Island
Harlan D. Whatley I park the blue Chevy ragtop Down by the old Coast Guard station. There are lots of cars in the parking lot Which means the beach is really crowded today. As I stroll down the sandy beach I think about how I got here And how relaxing St. Simons Island is Compared to the big city where I used to live. The people here are as friendly as can be And nobody is in a big hurry. The seafood and local cuisine is delicious And the sunsets are beautiful to watch. So when I feel a little blue I go down to the pier in the village Or sometimes I go to see old Harry Who serves me a most palatable vintage. Harlan D. Whatley is a native of North Louisiana whose poetry has been published in the Birmingham Arts Journal, Heavy Hands Ink, Papercut and Poets for Living Waters. He currently teaches English in Zhengzhou, China.
Dream of Ivy
by Lyn Lifshin you know the story of the woman in a turret and how ivy puts its fingers across the moon. And besides, no one could hear. Ivy that grows like kudzu in the deepest part of Georgia swallowing up a single house in one night. I would have lowered my long hair to a lover, lured him with blood in a bottle, each drop a ruby with a poem etched on it. Or carved my initials in the grey stone around his heart. I’d have talked to the birds or waited, slept 20 years, given away my children. Only I was outside trying to get in Lyn Lifshin lives in Virginia and has written more than 120 books of poetry, including "The Licorice Daughter: My Year With Ruffian," "Before It's Light," "Cold Comfort" and "Another Woman who Looks Like Me." Her new book, "All the Poets Who Have Touched Me, Living and Dead: All True, Especially the Lies," is receiving strong reviews. To find out more about Lyn or purchase a book, visit her website.