The March Editor's Pick Poet is Claire T. Feild

Please feel free to email Claire at:

ctillandsia@gmail.com

SACROSANCT

Even though the petite woods are sacred,
the hag promises herself to find a
way to vile their loveliness.

As she collects matches from the Queen
Witch, she visualizes the forest
the height of a lantern in the
throes of orange flames.

The bruja lights the matches two-by-
two, but before she can throw
them into the innocent woods,
a magnanimous giant hits her
in the head with a screwdriver.

As the stars sift from her consciousness,
the giant steps on the inconspicuous
fire.

The hag and the giant become friends as
a wave of realization covers the
witch’s brain about the importance
of environmental health on her
propensity to hatch evil seasonal
plans.

THE BLACK PUMPS

She sticks a black pump
shoe through a backyard
arbor just before a streak
of lightning caresses the sky
with a hard kiss. She takes
her other black pump shoe
and throws it high into the
sky. What goes up does not
necessarily have to come
down, but her shoe does,
and she puts both back on,
fussing about how nervous
she feels. Since she is quite
immobile, she cries as she
drinks her toddy and cringes
at the sight of a toad at her
feet. This side of the arbor
is dark with deep holes she
falls into and pulls herself
out with her hardened nails.
When a ghost flies off with
her pumps, she flops into
a lounge chair to watch
her favorite video. But she
is still sad and finds out
where the ghost flies in his
sleep. She goes to his abode
and grabs the pumps with
her teeth. She finds the
strength to walk home and
then brush her feet with
coconut oil and witch
hazel to tame the itches
her feet’s bottom received
from the non-hyaline dry
dirt.

CONTRAVENE

She breaks the antique pitcher on purpose,
its characters flying everywhere
from more than one trapeze.

The party-goers shocked, ice cream
dribbles from their mouths like
wondrous cascades.

As the ghosts arrive, they run into the
antiques as if they are no more
important than cardboard boxes
in forest flames.

The women grab their purses, running
down the steps two at a time, the
three-story house a recent
memory that will not flatten
like a crippled top hat.

Claire T. Feild has had 410 poems and 7 creative nonfiction stories accepted for publication in 129 different print journals and anthologies such as, The Tulane Review; Freshwater; Ghostlight; Alabama Views and Words; The Muse; Spillway; Poeming Pigeons; The Carolina Quarterly; Slipstream Press; The Horror Zine Magazine; The Path: A Literary Magazine; The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal; and Literature Today (Volume 5). Her first poetry book is Mississippi Delta Women in Prism. Her next poetry collection is Southern Women: The 1950s. Her third poetry collection is Indigo Blues (Origami Poetry Project). Her first nonfiction book is A Delta Vigil: Yazoo City, Mississippi, the 1950s. Her second nonfiction book is Mississippi Delta Memories.