ISSUE TWENTY TWO: Less Malty Rye | next poem →

Ephemeroptera

Melissa Eleftherion

translated      or      defined
           A short-lived wing
temporary      swallow
     the rush to soothe its fatality
i lay my eggs            on the surface
      breathe into       your perimeter
           a glossalia of heartbeats
                    to breathe into that constant state of apprehension
                               i hover and spit            hover and spit
glide through glass blades
                         grass blades
          emerged from my dun my
transitory sunbeam from effluvial mist
               i alight on your            battered river
               and sink       my progeny
                                               one       by       one

Melissa Eleftherion is a writer, librarian, and a visual artist. Born & raised in Brooklyn, she earned an MFA in Poetry from Mills College, and an MLIS from San Jose State University. She is the author of field guide to autobiography (The Operating System, 2018), & numerous chapbooks including little ditch (above/ground press, 2018). Melissa now lives in Mendocino County where she manages the Ukiah Library, teaches creative writing, & curates the LOBA Reading Series.

ISSUE TWENTY TWO: Less Malty Rye | next poem →











ISSUE TWENTY TWO: Less Malty Rye

Ottavia Paluch
   Sonnet for Squares

Samantha Duncan
   Hunt Mother

Hunter Therron
   In Fever Sleep A Year Later

Melissa Eleftherion
   Poetry Walk
   Ephemeroptera

Gordon Blitz
   Marking