common s[un]flower

by on Jul 14, 2015

solitary
rough
conspicuous at margins

[she is] empty stream banks and railroad tracks

a disturbed wild bird
a cultivated form

 

::
note: this is an erasure/cut-up hybrid from a series-in-progress, working title: “[she is]: wildflowers of texas”. Source text: Geyata Ajilvsgi’s Wildflowers of Texas.

 


Robin Turner brings poem-making to schools, museums, and youth shelters, and serves as an online writing guide to homeschooled teens. Her work has most recently appeared in Anima Poetry, Red River Review, Referential Magazine, and the Porkbelly Press Emily anthology. She lives with her husband and a sweet old yellow cat along a wooded creek in East Dallas.

In the Beginning

by on Jul 13, 2015

A mailbox with numbers.  A silver mailbox with firm-red numbers painted on its side.  One.  Eight.  Two.  This was Peggy’s house. We sat next to each other in Mrs. Soldavini’s class—third grade.

It was five-thirty in the morning and I had never been outside so early. Except for once when the whole family left in the middle of the night for the 400-mile drive to Grandma’s, I had never even been awake this early. But somehow I woke up in time.

As I watched in all directions, my left hand pulled open the little door and then my right hand placed the card and the box of candy hearts deep inside.

A dog barked and I ran away as fast as I could. I’m still running.

 


Tony Press tries to pay attention. His stories (many) and poems (not as many) appear in a remarkable (to him) number of fine publications. Please seek them out.