stunned the world shocked looks the same
no mushroom cloud speechless hovers
on the horizon no drones loom overhead
no fires startled explosions sirens
simply tea and toast, tears and safety
pins pinned to our sweaters scarves sweatshirts
so we can find each other you are safe
no one is safe
safety pins like tooth fairies
santa clauses
easter bunnies
tucking pastel eggs among spring daffodils
like children’s fairy tales that end
with a light skip
a merry song
ogres giants fiends demons all
melted beheaded
buried drowned
tossed willy-nilly into ditches
summarily dismissed by
the swish of a sword
or the whispered words
of a sorcerer’s spell
except the witch
who never burned
despite Gretel’s stoking the fire
stuffing and wedging
with her too thin arms
except the witch
who walked out of the story
into the arms of a waiting world
Claire Scott s an award winning poet who has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. Her work has been accepted by The Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Enzagam and Healing Muse among others. Her first book of poetry, Waiting to be Called, was published in 2015.
ISSUE THIRTEEN: Ye, Smelly Tsar
Ashanti Anderson
Goddam
Alan Elyshevitz
BLDG A, STE 4-22
Deidre O’Connor
Vision at a Dublin Airport Hotel
Claire Scott
The Morning After
Daniel Lasell
Above What's Under
Chey Davis
The Indictment
Hilary Sideris
Park
John Rodzvilla
Then Bring It Double (12 & 35)
Kathleen McClung
After the Election
Matthew W. Schmeer
Disturbing the Peace