3 Poems by Susan Terris; 3 Poems by Rebecca McKeown; Alert for Subs

3 Poems by Susan Terris::

Memo to Self

did you clap for Tinkerbelle or wish her dead

and Little Mother who betrayed Tiger Lily

you never were one to put up with competition

were you

Memo to Self

try not to see yourself as Hester that letter

the scarlet A is only the mark

of a desperate soul willing to risk

all for an alphabet of joy

Memo to Self

neither Beatrice nor Laura you are

no one’s muse no poet extolls your virtues

invokes immortality but still you may a-

muse and intimate immoralilty

Bionote:

Susan Terris' book GHOST OF YESTERDAY, New & Selected Poems was published in 2013 by Marsh Hawk Press. Ms. Terris is the author of six full-length books of poetry, fourteen chapbooks, and three artists’ books. Journal publications include: The Southern Review, FIELD, and Ploughshares. She had a poem from FIELD in PUSHCART PRIZE XXXI. She’s editor of Spillway Magazine and a poetry editor for Pedestal Magazine and In Posse Review.

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3 Poems by Rebecca McKeown::

Overdose

Trapped in a never ending loop of pill cocktails.

Anti-thises and anti-thats — prophylactic lullaby-makers

In this clinical inferno.

My head’s a hatchback open wide.

No Sunglasses

Let me down.

My spirit is spiraling—

Her wings tattered—

She’s done with soaring

Anymore.

She likes to stare down dreams

In back alleys,

Like a stray cat, her

Wiry, wasted purrs

Rattle past ears

Too sick to listen

Anymore.

Let me bounce

Again.

I want to just

Open my self

And be careless.

I don’t want

To

Think

Or muse

About what

I would want

If I could have everything.

I just want to exist

And soar a little, again.

Just high enough

To brush the clouds

With my ruddy

Knees and to giggle

Through my lungs

And squint into

The sun

Because you don’t need sunglasses when you’re free.

Flow

Sitting on the park bench,

Watching old mothers

And young mothers

And pigeon ladies

And ice cream sellers

And men with pointy, greased moustaches

hustling by--each thinking in echoing chants,

“Step, step, breathe, step, breathe, step, step.”

I am reminded of your leaving

And how I’d shuffled backwards,

My feet collecting carpet fuzz,

As I’d tried to backtrack through time.

Bionote

Rebecca McKeown grew up in a small western New York college town, which has inspired many of her poems and short stories. A journalist, PR coordinator, craft blogger, and handmade jewelry maker, McKeown prefers fine poetry over fine wine, and rum over most other things, except maybe whiskey. She is also the Editor-in-Chief and founder of The Rampallian literary magazine. She rambles a lot over at www.RebeccaMcKeownWrites.com.

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Dear Submitters/Friends,

For your information, here is our new email address for submissions:: editors.pp@gmail.com, which becomes effective on 3 May 2013. please feel welcome to send all your poems and/or artworks to this address. The old email address (yuans@shaw.ca) will be closed permanently very soon.

Also, we have just set up our facebook account for Poetry Pacific; the address is https://www.facebook.com/poetry.pacific. You are more than welcome to network with us there!

Please note that PP is to switch into a quarterly publication in just a couple of days. In fact, Poetry Pacific (2.1 Spring Issue) is ready to be released on 5 May 2013; and PP (2.2 Summer Issue) has already been fully committed, but submissions are open and welcome for subsequent issues. 

Many thanks for attention, and stay tuned...

PP Editors