Review by Holly Mason
Killing Summer
Author: Sarah Browning
Full-Length Poetry Collection
ISBN: 978-1-943977-40-6
Publication Date: 9/21/2017
Retail Price: $14.95
At a time when poets and writers are frequently and earnestly asking the age-old question of What can I do to help, to make change in this current social and political climate?, we can look to Sarah Browning as an example. …
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The first time I died, I felt fireworks shoot down my legs and I could taste their colors: red like your heart before it stopped and turned gray, golden green like your eyes. My chest was heavy and my head was light; my eyes were swollen like a prize fighter’s.
I touched you and repeated I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry.
When you saw me, you raised …
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Smudge.
I hate that word.
Smudge.
Do you say it in two syllables, or three?
[My Arkansas friend says it in three. Suh-muh-dge.]
So many consonants, all piled up; clutter. Rolling around. Alphabet soup.
Taste dirt. Taste sad. Taste. Taste—
Smudge.
_____
“Pinched like a pear,” my mom would say. Mouth closed, a little pucker, sweet sour smooth. But not a kiss; not a real kiss. It was bad, …
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I recently had the opportunity to speak with Tethered by Letters’ founder and CEO, Dani Hedlund.
Dani discussed the inception of Tethered by Letters and its various imprint projects. She noted generational differences in achieving success in the literary field, expressing that she looks forward to seeing the accomplishments of young Millennials. We also discussed the way politics, literature, and art go hand-in-hand, as well as our generation’s drive for activism and …
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I choose to live in pain. Let me tell you why.
Flannery O’Connor once said sickness was a place, as real and enlightening as a long trip to Europe. If sickness is a country, I am a wellness ex-pat. Sickness has rules, codes, mores. I know most of them. For instance, I know to really ham it up in the recovery room after surgery, …
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