“Menace” is one of three fiercely evocative poems by stephanie roberts in our Spring 2018 issue.

{ X }

THERE IS A WORD FOR EVERYTHING
a flock of seagulls
a menace of clowns
the ova of fish
(known informally as delicious)
the offspring of mr. lion and mrs. tiger
another name for the reverse
the moniker for squirrel tits
the inner sex organs of women
and the outer petals
(often referred to erroneously as vagina)
i call you beloved
(you dismiss this,
insisting on freudian terms
cathectic,
hysterical, i hope
you mean funny)
we’re never talking about the same thing
open your thesaurus
pass your each, every, per
pass your one plus one
pass your zeta
what describes your broken dream
of forever?
i say won you say second
i say me jane you
true husband
then it is sunrise
the earth lights agreement
let’s right the dictionary
for our common prayers.

{ X }

stephanie roberts has work featured in numerous periodicals, in North America and Europe, including Arcturus, The Stockholm Review of Literature, Occulum and Atlanta Review. A 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee, she was born in Central America and grew up in Brooklyn, NY. Twitter shenanigans @ringtales.