He Sang the Saltwater Silky (a pantoum)

When Pompeii poured into the Mediterranean, She was warmed with the spirit of Pyrrha And swam north to kinder colder waters Because the melodious strings of Deucalion called. She was warmed with the spirit of Pyrrha; The daughter of a common pandora came alive Because the melodious strings of Deucalion called And his harp heralded…

Another new collection!? / Why Not Always

Daily writing promptWhat have you been working on?View all responses I am thrilled to announce my second new collection of poems this year! Honey Eaters is special because, unlike most of my output so far, it is full of positive, upbeat, fun pieces about love, passion, and loyalty to my special someone, my husband. Despite…

Courting the Cobra

Come my love to the roots where snakes dance. Legless muscles wrap scales in circles across pine bark, scratching the imagined itch that has nothing to do with skin. They wait for nymphs to skip blissfully by, ignorant of danger then swing from branches high-attained and snap fangs into fur scalps soft on slippery tongues.…

A Taste of Your Salt

I found you cold, full of hot air that could never warm your skin, only the sky red in both our eyes for lack of pulse beneath a rhyolite veneer. Not blood but glass cut through our veins, made us rough to exfoliate others’ skin. They became better for the knowing of us. Our lessons…

Lovers’ Leaves

Lipstick stains on deciduous bark endure, undetectable under the blush of umber notes hung on stiff arms ready to be torn by the wind, drifted down a creek like a microcosm of the oceanic message in a bottle. Love-letters are effaced by silt and diluted fish filth if not found at the precise moment characters…

Mosquito Mine

Lithe aerialist, what labyrinthine patterns you trace across the blue! a master of your kind, like the human Escher became a little bug to crawl his impossible mazes. My eight eyes slow down your spirals. I hypnotize myself with your sinuous life. I mimic my web across the vale like netting just in case your…

Of Ice and Stone

A heft of Paleoproterozoic gneiss — fossilized memory, motionless Dragon's Eye stares at breathless descendants who gaze upon auroras, reawakening Origin: Muspelheim flame meets Niflheim frost, and Ymir grows from a small ember that melts the snow, leaving this pure pool to protect the witnessing Eye. Like the cow Audhumla, two spirits lick a glacier…

Craving (a cinquain)

Beneath liquid diamonds sparking o'er moon-touched stone she shuts her eyes to dream: his lips descend. Written for Day 4 of National Poetry Month. This one did not place, likely due to how short and simple it is compared to the effort of the other entries. I was feeling a bit lazy that day, so…

Slither and Strike

As a snake newly shed, wet and glistening and ready to be pricked by hawk’s talon, your body slithers along mine. Dripping poison by the Nile’s tides, perfectly positioned to penetrate, your pointed fangs are sharp pearls I covet to adorn my neck and breast — Beast! Anubis would envy your ease of transformation to…