I am the baloney in the sweet woman sandwich flanked by my angel food mother and daughter known for their honey sauces their endless supply of surrender to the greater good they both may say I am a sweetbread too, but I know I am only minced up organ meat that comes from throat and brain the one that sometimes feels the need to shout out savory bitter truths in hope that real can also be revered and share a place on our inviting earthenware plate
Susan Shea is a retired school psychologist, quilter, jewelry maker, and maker of rock sculptures. She was raised in New York City, and now lives in a forest in Pennsylvania. Last year, she returned to writing poetry, after an almost thirty year hiatus. Since then, her work has been accepted by Across the Margin, Ekstasis, Feminine Collective, The Avalon Literary Review, Persimmon Tree Literary Magazine, Military Experience and the Arts, Triggerfish Critical Review, Amethyst Review, Litbreak Magazine, and others. She is finally able to be a full-time poet.
Featured Artwork:
Balance
Painter and poet Carmen Germain is the author of four poetry collections, the latest being Life Drawing, featured in MoonPath Press (2022). Her paintings and drawings have appeared in various literary art journals, and she has been a visiting artist-scholar at the American Academy in Rome. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, the traditional homeland of diverse Indigenous tribes near the Salish Sea.