Poetry

by Jared Beloff and Laurie Marshall

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Jared Beloff is a teacher and poet who lives in Queens, NY with his wife and two daughters. His debut poetry collection, Who Will Cradle Your Head, was recently published by ELJ Press. He is the editor of the Marvel inspired poetry anthology, Marvelous Verses. You can find his work in Contrary Magazine, Barren Magazine, Night Heron Barks, The Shore and elsewhere. He is online at www.jaredbeloff.com.

Laurie Marshall is an award-winning writer and collage artist in Northwest Arkansas. Recent stories have been longlisted in the 2022 Bath Flash Fiction Award and selected for Best Small Fictions 2022. Her debut flash fiction collection, Proof of Life, was released by ELJ Editions in April of this year, and she’ll join the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Arkansas this fall. www.SeeLaurieWrite.com 

Image description: Collage created of multiple images: a sculpted hand, wrapped by a red blazer and holding a yellow bird, and behind these, a selection of white and yellow wildflowers.

The poem reads: “‘Poetry’ / after Todd Dillard // A mother folds her hands / remembering her daughter’s // embrace. A son shrugs / as he takes off his bag for the day. // A man tries to will the rising / line on his charts to plateau. // And the early summer heat / shocks us into a bouquet. // Death discards his jacket / after the party breaks up. // I wear it in a way that catches / my shoulders, two firm // hands holding a small / bird. Against fingers // the feathered heat surges, / the morning light is stilled.”