(a villanelle) The conifers spoke to the deciduous treesDeep in the cool, ancient wood.“Wish,” they whispered, “they were a gentler species.” Honey locusts and maples nodded their leaves,Mulberries and oaks, as well, understood.The conifers spoke to the deciduous trees:“Shall nature stand by as they do as they please?”“We know,” wept the Willow sisters, both so… Continue reading The Conifers
Author: Rhonda Rosenheck
Rhonda Rosenheck’s poetry is inspired by ancient texts, nature, and human complexities. She won a NYSCA grant for Thriving: An Anthology (ed., 2024) and authored The Five Books of Limericks, Looking, and Yiddische Yoga: OYsanas for Every Generation (humor). Her poems have appeared in magazines, journals and anthologies; one was performed at Cooperstown, NY’s Glimmerglobe Theater. Rhonda was a featured poet in Judith Magazine. She has been featured at readings in MA and in Upstate NY. She participated in the Colrain Manuscript Conference and in juried residencies at the Fish Factory Arts Centre (Iceland) and Prospect Street Writers House (Vermont).
Mary
(a pantoum) Mary dug through her sundae, unearthing sweet bits,blind to oblique police-woman glances. Indifferent— archeological zeal? Blood, where her right hand rakedher captor’s corpse.Blind to oblique police-woman glances. Indifferent to fluid crusting red to brown to black, fromher captor’s corpse,drying, as she slaked her thirst and ate her first meal.Fluid, crusting red to brown… Continue reading Mary