An ultimatum
by Tobias Winters An ultimatum stood at my door
And greeted me so fondly
To the tune of my thumping heartbeat.
"Live as I seem or die as I am"
The words had reverberated in my skull and rattled my bones-
Sick with grief and mourning
Of a life never lived,
A lick of air never tasted on a tongue of a new man-
Not man-soon-to-be, or transsexual or Pinocchio without the splintering of wood but of words,
......
...... (shadow)” by Rosamond S. King
Breathe / . A past judge for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, she serves as a board member of the National Book Critics Circle, is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and writes regularly for the New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker,London Review of Books, the New York Review of Books, Raritan, and other publications.
"Did you see that toucan?" one flaps with glee, "Thought he was a chef, but he served up tree." With each little sip and a twirl of their toes, They lift up their cups, as the warm breezy blows. Each silly joke, a joyful spree, In playful hearts, we find the key. One fluffs his wings, a dramatic display, While the other laughs in a sassy ballet.
Cotton candy dreams chase the sun’s golden rays, In this sky of delight, where silliness plays.
As in what if ...
“The Black Unicorn” by Audre Lorde
The black unicorn is greedy ...
“I Do” by Sjohnna McCray
Driving the highway from Atlanta to Phoenix ...
“syntax” by Maureen N. McLane
and if / I were to say // I love you and / I do love you ...
“Starlight” by William Meredith
Going abruptly into a starry night / It is ignorance we blink from ...
“My Lover Is a Woman” by Pat Parker
my lover is a woman ...
“Abandonment Under the Walnut Tree” by D.
A. Powell
Something seems to have gnawed that walnut leaf ...
“No One Speaks fo How Tendrils Feed on the Fruits” by Xan Phillips
of my demise these dead hands ...
The King is Dead, Long Live the King” by Julian Randall
Heaven is the certainty that you will be avenged ...
“Tonight No Poetry Will Serve” by Adrienne Rich
Saw you walking barefoot / taking a long look / at the new moon's eyelid ...
“Elegy in Joy” by Muriel Rukeyser
We tell beginnings: for the flesh and the answer ...
“The Anactoria Poem” by Sappho
Some say thronging cavalry, some say foot soldiers ...
“Syntax” by Reginald Shepherd
Occasionally a god speaks to you ...
“C.R.E.A.M.” by Danez Smith
in the morning I think about money ...
“Dear Melissa: [a curve billed thrasher]” by TC Tolbert
A curve billed thrasher / is cleaning it's beak on the ground ...
“Self-Portrait as Exit Wounds” by Ocean Vuong
Instead, let it be the echo to every footstep ...
“And Now Upon My Head the Crown” by Phillip B.
Williams
In the first place—I wanted him and said so ...
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