These 3 sonnets were previously published in the now defunct Mojave Heart.
A Feral Girl Belongs Between The Trees
You trespass, sodden footprints in your wake,
into a kitchen for purloined cake, crumbs,
a dollop, butter cream. Clean pewter plate
while an entire household dreams. You succumb,
to ritual, sneak upstairs, nimble toes,
where they sleep unaware. Exchange soiled dress
until your armoire’s bare, grosgrain ribbons, stowed
in pockets, for your feral hair, still wet
a little from the lake, your evening bath
before your stomach ached for cake, clothes stuff —
you’ll find, again, through the servant’s entrance at half
past ten. This house was never quite enough
even when it contained your family —
a feral girl belongs between the trees.
Nipple
Pulls you to his chest, after all the rest
to fall asleep the way that he desires.
you suckling his right nipple like a breast.
“Like you are starving, and it can make milk.”
Its slight erection tight between your lips
because you know it’s true. He does feed you,
something more than the mimicked milk this tit,
diminutive, cannot express. A coup
to keep it in until he’s snoring but
if you do it makes you, in fact, his child,
a babydoll undressed then nursed. It’s what
makes it okay that he hurts you — defiles
then feeds. Both father, mother, he can be.
He knows how much you need a family.
Bleach
You didn’t really lie, that Christmas fête
she asks about the dye — a neighbor friend
who wants to judge and preach. You do not get
a golden girl with dye but bleach. So you pretend
it was the sun. You’re not the only one.
They crown the blonde heads quicker than the brown.
Won’t know regret, like you: “I could have won,”
a public smiling shame in evening gown.
A parent wants what’s better for their child:
the waving winner, princess, sashed, that thrives.
A truth civilians will never reconcile.
You bleach away the pain when she is five.
It will not be the last time that you lied
How many days she cried before she died?
Bio: Kristin Garth is a womanchildish Pushcart, Rhysling nominated sonneteer and a Best of the Net 2020 finalist, the author of LOLLYGAGGER and 26 more books of poetry and prose. She is the dollhouse architect of Pink Plastic House a tiny journal.
Review of Paul Brookes’s book “Othernesses” by Spriha Kant
“‘Othernesses’ is the beautifully unique work knitted by poet ‘Paul Brookes’ and this knitting pattern has an impactful impression.”— This statement is justified by the facts and citations in the following stanzas.
The poet has wonderfully used personification in some poetries. Quoting a few words from one such poetry “The Rockpool” below:
“One minute I am scorched by sharp sunlight,
next I’m cold enough to ripple shivers.”
“In the wane I’ll have my own way, again.
Every to and fro never the same.”
Certain stanzas and/or words in some poetries recite the different aspects of life such as philosophy, experiences, etc, some recite through the garnish/garnishes of personifications and/or metaphors whereas some point out in a direct manner. Quoting such few words and stanzas below:
“I am a dying sea, a dried up thing.”
“Our specularities slide over surfaces,
change shape whenever the object, viewer
or environment moves.”
“We waymark each hour as it passes on.
All waymarks subject to going, gone.”
“World is Chrysanthemums in a picture.”
The poet’s empathy and keen observatory skill not overlooking the importance of insects in our lives show his considerate attitude towards insects that a negligible number of persons have. Quoting below a few words and stanzas proving this:
“We’d wallow in waste if there were no flies.
Praise them, their short lives, work and enterprise”
“You horrify me with your pure cleanliness.
Live in shittip, I’ll join you in the mess.”
“Scratch decayed wood until it splinters. Hunt
these spikes for soft white wood swallow inside.
Indigestible I make a hard front,
swallow soil ready to throw back up outside.”
The poetries woven by him as encomiums for his fellow artists by using insects as metaphors for them also contribute to proving his attitude as considerate towards insects as well as shows his greatness as an artist.
“Othernesses” by Paul Brookes is suitable for wise poetic minds, a spark that can light up the reader’s interest in entomology, and is fruitful to read.
Bios (Spriha Kant & Paul Brookes):Paul Brookes:
Paul Brookes is a writer, local historian, genealogist, photographer, shop assistant and grandfather. Paul has lived in Wombwell, South Yorkshire for over twenty years, in a cat house full of teddy bears. He adores the counter intuitive. His first play was performed at The Gulbenkian Theatre, Hull. His chapbooks include The Fabulous Invention Of Barnsley (Dearne Community Arts, 1993). A World Where and She Needs That Edge (Nixes Mate Press, 2017, 2018) The Spermbot Blues (OpPRESS, 2017), Please Take Change (Cyberwit.net, 2018) As Folk Over Yonder (Afterworld Books, 2019). A poetry collaboration with artworker Jane Cornwell: Wonderland in Alice, plus other ways of seeing (JCStudio Press, 2021) with a foreword by Ian Mcmillan, a sonnet collection called As Folktaleteller (ImpSpired, 2022) with an introduction by Penelope Shuttle. Forthcoming is another sonnet collection: These Random Acts of Wildness (Glass Head Press, 2023). Paul is Editor of The Wombwell Rainbow interviews, book reviews and challenges. Paul has had work broadcast on BBC Radio 3 The Verb and videos of his Self Isolation sonnet sequence featured by Barnsley Museums and Hear My Voice Barnsley. For more: www.thewombwellrainbow.com.Spriha Kant:
Spriha Kant is an English poetess& literarybook reviewer.
Her first published poetry is “The Seashell” which was published in “Imaginary Land Stories.”
The poetries of Spriha have been published in the following anthologies:
Sing, Do The Birds of Spring
A Whisper Of Your Love
Hard Rain Poetry: Forever Dylan
Bare Bones Writing Issue 1: Fevers of the mind
Hidden in Childhood
A Glitter of Miles
“Hidden in Childhood” became the #1 bestselling book on amazon. This book consists of poems from about 150 globally acclaimed poets and poetesses, out of which most have been featured on NPR (National Public Radio), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation),andthe New York Times. The wonderful Japanese painter “Hikari” featured this book in her exhibition in Tokyo in Japan. All the proceeds of the anthology book “A Glitter of Miles” went to the “Senior Staffy Club” (UK), a charity that helps older Staffordshire Bull terriers
Book Reviews by Spriha that have been released so far are:
The Keeper of Aeons by Matthew MC Smith
Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow by Jeff Flesch
Washed Away: A Collection of Fragments by Shiksha Dheda
Spaces by Clive Gresswell
Silence From the Shadows by Stuart Matthews
Breathe by Helen Laycock
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: Love Poems and Poetic Prose by Gabriela Marie Milton
These Random Acts of Wildness by Paul Brookes
Spriha has collaborated on the poetry“The Doorsteps Series” with thewell-known Southern Indiana poet “David L O’ Nan.”
Spriha has been a part of the two events celebrating the launches of the books:
Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow byJeff Flesch
As FolkTaleTeller by Paul Brookes
Words of Spriha Kant quoted on the first page of the book:
Her poetic quote “An orphic wind storm blew away a sand dune that heaped all our love memories upon one another.” has been published as the epigraph in the book Magkasintahan Volume VI By Poets and Writers from the Philippines under Ukiyoto Publishing in the year 2022.
Features of Spriha Kant (Interviews & Others):
Quick-9 Interview on feversofthemind.com (Interview Feature)
#BrokenAsides with Spriha Kant on the brokenspine.co.uk (Interview Feature)
Creative Achievements in 2022 on thewombwellrainbow.com
Invitation to Spriha Kant as a guest of honor:
Spriha graced the award-winningshow“Victoria in Verse” as a “guest of honor” in “Bloomsbury Radio, London,” hosted by Victoria Onofrei which broadcasted on January 29th, 2023 at 6 P.M. as per the time standard in London in which she recited her poetry “The Tale of a poltergeist”.
Depression
I sit entombed within the mire of my mind
Estranged from swirling whirl of worlds beyond my sphere
Of being. Flailing, failing in despair to find
An exit from the clutch of the eternal “here.”
My muted screams unheard amidst the Sturm und Drang
Of catatonic angst and death’s cacophony—
A diabolic din akin to the harangue
Of Siren-song’s seduction to catastrophe.
If only like Odysseus I could be lashed
Secure, transfixed upon a mast until the sound
And fury fade away to silence at the last,
And in sweet blissful peace to find myself unbound.
As like a miner, trapped within a rock-sealed tomb,
In helpless hope I dream of light within my gloom.
Bio:
James A. Tweedie has lived in California, Utah, Scotland, Australia, Hawaii, and presently in Long Beach, Washington. He has published six novels, three collections of poetry, and one collection of short stories with Dunecrest Press. His poetry was awarded First Place in the 2021 Society of Classical Poets Poetry Competition, the Laureate’s Choice Award in the 2021 Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest, and the quarterly prize for Best Poem from The Lyric.
It’s as much the fault of the blade that it was
designed serrated as it is that I’m
designed accident prone. Neither the cause
of any bloody outcome unless combined
when we should leave each other alone.
Eviscerate me without trying.
Ruin another sundress. Wounds I know
my friends wish I wouldn’t express multiply
simply because I gravitate to your glint.
Crave danger inside my fumbling fingers
believing this time will be different.
Festering scabs are only what linger
and yet when we are too long away
I find virgin skin to offer the blade.
Kristin Garth is a Pushcart, Rhysling nominated sonneteer and a Best of the Net 2020 finalist. Her sonnets have stalked journals like Glass, Yes, Five:2:One, Luna Luna and more. She is the author of a short story collection You Don’t Want This ( Pink Plastic Press) and The Stakes (Really Serious Literature) and many more. She is the founder of Pink Plastic House a tiny journal and co-founder of Performance Anxiety. [Follow her on Twitter: (@lolaandjolie) and her website http://kristingarth.com]A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Kristin GarthSonnet from Kristin Garth : Submergence in Fevers of the Mind Press Presents the Poets of 2020Treealabra by Kristin Garth in Fevers of the Mind Issue 1 (2019)
Fevers of the Mind 