The Literary Magazine of the Osterhout Free Library
Red Fox
Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad
He called the red fox cunning,
in demeaning tone, critical of the
trustless mammal with limb bones,
as if he were not the huntsman
with no fixed abode, shadowing
untrained prey late evening,
leaving carcass abed early morning;
flesh unsuspecting, martyrs long
for the feel of his brilliant fur,
tiers of red, unsteady shades like
manic waves of fire,
veiling the scope of his skin Continue reading “Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad, Winter 2017”
The Irony of a Snag
Changming Yuan
1.
You have long since died
But you will never fall
Standing deadly among leafy growths Continue reading “Changming Yuan, Winter 2017”
Snowstorm
Mary Buchinger
and after begins
the art of subtraction
the digging to find
what was before
cars follow plows
blinking yellow
along temporary-walled
salted paths
but the river practices
addition lying still
folded into blankets
quiet and absorbing
in this world white Continue reading “Mary Buchinger, Winter 2017”
Literary Clerihews
Marjorie Maddox
Shakespeare
has an ear
for lovely sonnets.
He must know phonics!
* * *
Edgar Allan Poe
loves to scare us so
with thumping hearts beneath the floor
and ravens squawking, “Nevermore.” Continue reading “Marjorie Maddox, Winter 2017”
Ora Pro Nobis
Harold Jenkins
Between the worn wooden pews
parishioners in a double row
approach the priest to take Communion
rocking with each step
Fewer every year
thinner, fatter, grayer, balder
fewer baptisms, more funerals Continue reading “Harold Jenkins, Winter 2017”
Word Fountain 