by McKenzie | Aug 21, 2014 | Blog, My Poems, My Writing Challenges
The act is violent, the tearing open, the skin. I imagine bird claws, the talons, a wind breaking open between two buildings. The mouth, agape. And the arrival. Two shadows. August 20, 2014, MLT ...
by McKenzie | Aug 21, 2014 | Blog, My Poems, My Writing Challenges
And then I look to the fall trees, and I wonder if they ever think, “I am running out of leaves.” They probably do, they with their tall, scarred bodies, launching outward and up. Sometimes, they are probably dreaming, or worse, waking. They open their eyes to...
by McKenzie | Aug 21, 2014 | Blog, My Poems, My Writing Challenges
Crab is such an ugly word—the hard k, its suddenness. I’m steeped in these small pools, or perched on the surrounding rocks and sand, one hole after the next, searching for shore crabs, carcinus maenas. I find their gray and tan bodies, slick with the...
by McKenzie | Aug 17, 2014 | Blog, My Poems, My Writing Challenges
I go out into the world, looking for strawberries like the ones from my mother’s garden. They were small and firm, sweet but bitter, dirt caught in the leaves and deeper pits. We plucked them fresh from their stems and ate them before cleaning them, the dirt...
by McKenzie | Aug 17, 2014 | Poetry Collections, Reviews
No matter how long I’ve been reading and writing professionally, it still amazes me how much a little time away can contribute to my appreciation of a larger work. During my first year as the Layout and Design Editor at New Issues Poetry and Prose, I had the...