Dispatches and Selections from Independent Publications
Lana Hechtman Ayers writes with an edge that is as sharp as her imagery. Abyss After Tea contains what is perhaps my favorite metaphor of the year, though this poem is no one line wonder. It enthralls throughout its entirety, and leaves the reader reeling in the destructive wake of history.
Reflexive and raw, Natalie E. Illum tears out her throat and lets the wounds speak. Her verse smiles up from the depths and ambushes the reader from below, blurring the lines between poem and death threat with a voice that lusts for blood.
Ginny Lowe Conners captures pandemic era chaos in the most unusual of settings; the woods. Yet this tranquil place is perfect for displaying the personal struggles that plagued our nation in a year of plague, divisive politics, and civil unrest. No, this is not a “pandemic poem”, this is a whisper of the human experience, a heart grappling with a world of mayhem.
Larkin Warren peers into a life ripped from its foundations and forces the reader to take part in the exodus. This poem is a triumph, and well worth the read.