Dana Ravyn
Dana Ravyn is a transfem poet, novelist, and educator. She has published a novel (Fearless Heart, KDP, 2014) and her sophomore novel, The Suicide Switch, is due out in Spring 2023. Dana’s poetry appears in a chapbook (Swidden Dreams, 1998, Inquire Within Press), Haiku Journal, Sparks of Calliope, The Avocet, and Varied Spirits, an anthology edited by Red Haircrow. A medical writer for over 20 years, she works on health literacy empowerment in her community. Dana lives in the Rehoboth Beach, Delaware area.
The following work is Copyright © 2023, and owned by Dana Ravyn and may not be distributed or reprinted in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.
anniversaries
rain slips off the roof
to dead leaves,
a metronome counting
echoes of my footsteps
toward a vague future.
In my age every day
is the anniversary
of something.
i rachet through days,
the cistern brimming
with dreams.
Ovation
Your hands lure damask notes
from the ebony of your violin,
nuzzle a tiger sealed in shellac.
Hands that ignite skin,
exsanguinate lemons.
Wide to swaddle a child’s tears,
insect-like lacemakers.
You fold them, a chalice.
to cup moonlight blood.
It sifts through,
confetti settles,
consecrates
my belly.
Jeffrey Spahr-Summers
Jeffrey Spahr-Summers is a poet, writer, photographer, and publisher. He is the founder and editor of Jasper’s Folly Poetry Journal. Visit Jeffrey on the web here.
The following work is Copyright © 2023, and owned by Jeffrey Spahr-Summers and may not be distributed or reprinted in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.
bathsheba
the cunning one
clever
mother dear maker
terrier pit-
bull by my side
believes i deserve to be king
i ate the apple
the core
the stem
the seeds and all
i licked the juice
in front of you
in front of god
