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The clockhouse submissions period is open

8/27/2021

2 Comments

 
Picture
While you consider submitting to CLOCKHOUSE Volume Nine, here's something to read from Volume Five.  Submissions are open until December 15, and the guidelines and submissions upload button are on the website.

from Helene Barker Kiser’s poem, Bathsheba, to Her First Child:

The moment I tilted my face to the sun,
hot, even sinking, I felt the king.
Or rather, felt eyes sharp as a crow’s.
Heat like touch, like a wall
of film around me, a substance, heat
of his hands but not his hands
. My body a fever--
blood-red bloom of a cactus--
the bath water evaporated,
surprised by the burn.
Strangely calmed by the attention,
I loved the early evening,
the beginnings of shadows. The sun,
I thought it the sun still,
unrelenting. I didn’t know
there were men around, the war
raging on. I didn’t know
there was something the king had to do.



2 Comments
Yasmin Amico
9/1/2021 07:36:15 pm

Ugh! Refuse on the Beach by Yasmin Amico

I see a beautiful beach
On closer inspection
Debris merged with sand
Debris merged with seashells and seaweed.
Was a refuse out of reach?

The waves ebb and flow
Eager swimmers jump in
Jellyfish bob up and down
Children build sand castles
Dig for seashells galore
Parents lounge in beach chairs
Or flip on colorful towels
On the sand
Umbrellas shading them
From the bright sun
Perhaps their vacation has just begun?

The sun shines brightly
The clouds float by
In a baby blue sky
A child loses a red balloon
And cries
While a father wipes
Every teardrop from the child’s eyes
Aren’t moments like these just too precious?

A perfect day
Marred by debris
That did not come
From the sea
But from some
Who did not care
To place their garbage
In refuses
But cast the remnants
Of their beach sojourn
Leaving a beautiful beach forelorn
Littered with their castoffs
Cigarette butts
Beer cans
Plastic bottles
Wrapper from fast food
Long scoffed away
Why did they refuse to be
Good beachgoers and clean up?

Ugh!
Why can’t these people
Take the time to
Clean up all their mess
Before they go?
If they did life would be
Just so much easier
For you and me
And every living thing across the sea.

Ugh! I begin to pick up the garbage
Left behind from those who litter on
Land and sea
I am now on bender knees
Grains of sand imprinted
On my skin
Making little dents
I begin to itch
Right where a childhood sound
Resulted in some stitches
When I fell in the ditches
After running wild
With abandon
On terrain
Just after a very heavy rain
Stop that!
My parents had said
But onward I went
Not listening
Until one trip
Left me sprawled out in the ditches
My sojourn requiring many stitches.

Children listen to your parents
Every day it you refuse
Your folly may lead
To wounds that take
Ages to heal
Leaving scars
That will remain
For a lifetime, and often will
Result in frequent pain
Like when you go
On bender knees
To pick up refuse others
Have left behind
Carelessly not heeding
Sanity to stop littering
Our land and seas.

Ugh!

(My submission)

Reply
Matte Blk link
4/30/2022 05:32:13 pm

<- Bravo!

Reply



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    CLOCKHOUSE

    A national literary journal published by the
    Clockhouse Writers'  Conference
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  • Home
    • Editor's Note 9
    • Contents 9
    • Excerpts 9
    • Contributors 9
    • Masthead 9
  • Past
    • Volume Eight >
      • Editor's Note 8
      • Contents 8
      • Excerpts 8
      • Interview 8
      • Contributors 8
      • Masthead 8
    • Volume Seven >
      • Editor's Note 7
      • Contents 7
      • Excerpts 7
      • Interview 7
      • Contributors 7
    • Volume Six >
      • Editor's Note 6
      • Contents 6
      • Excerpts 6
      • Interview 6
      • Contributors 6
    • Volume Five >
      • Editor's Note 5
      • Contents 5
      • Excerpts 5
      • Interview 5
      • Contributors 5
    • Volume Four >
      • Editor's Note 4
      • Contents 4
      • Excerpts 4
      • Interview 4
      • Contributors 4
    • Volume Three >
      • Editor's Note 3
      • Contents 3
      • Excerpts 3
      • Interview 3
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    • Volume Two >
      • Editor's Note 2
      • Contents 2
      • Excerpts 2
      • Contributors 2
    • Volume One >
      • Introductory Note 1
      • Contents 1
      • Excerpts 1
      • Contributors 1
  • Blog
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