Dispatched from dusk, an iridescent stubble
breaks over everything and lacquers the lawn,
and each inch of terrain becomes a mangle
of brunette sheen. Sodden acres are now
blanketed beneath a chattering with numbers
too vast for counting. In precipitous precision,
they rise, like a head-wind suddenly made
visible, quickly extinguishing any creases
of light as each bird binds itself to the whole,
keeping tightly to form as if something
foreign and intent on anarchy might displace
it and lead the murmuration astray, none
daring to pull opposite of their dark destiny
and fretful portage between earth and heaven.
A resident of Connecticut, John is a graduate of Trinity College, Wesleyan University and the University of Connecticut. In the Lilac Hour, his first volume of poems, was published in 2020 by Antrim House, and it is available on Amazon. His poems have been published, or are forthcoming, in journals including Euphony, Moria, Penumbra, River Heron, Sheepshead, Third Wednesday, Amethyst Review, High Window, Poetica Review and the French Literary Review. John is also a two-time 2021 Pushcart Prize nominee.
M.J. Iuppa is the Director of the Visual and Performing Arts Minor Program and Lecturer in Creative Writing at St. John Fisher College; and since 2000 to present, is a part time lecturer in Creative Writing at The College at Brockport. Since 1986, she has been a teaching artist, working with students, K-12, in Rochester, NY, and surrounding area. Most recently, she was awarded the New York State Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching, 2017. She has four full length poetry collections,This Thirst (Kelsay Books, 2017), Small Worlds Floating (2016) as well as Within Reach (2010) both from Cherry Grove Collections; Night Traveler (Foothills Publishing, 2003); and 5 chapbooks. She lives on a small farm in Hamlin NY.
Foxglove Journal 