CORKS OR DRUMS
The wet seconds of the
Anaphorical Clock
Grind the day into mud.
And each is the same. The same breakfast followed by the same phone calls, the same news and the same plastic ravenous news people. The same lunch followed uncomfortably by the same afternoon. The same dinner and the same sunset.
A refrain of sunset
Shatters against golden clouds
Sending shards of pinks and bruise purples.
Motifs of geese honk their Vs
Through crimson October crisps.
Vapor, steam like ghosts from tailpipes
Escape bodies and disappear upwards to heaven or sun
For a moment.
Of wet seconds.
About the author:
Marc Janssen is an internationally published poet and poetic activist. His work has appeared haphazardly in printed journals and anthologies such as Off the Coast, Cirque Journal, Penumbra, The Ottawa Arts Review and Manifest West. He also coordinates poetry events in the Willamette Valley of Oregon including the Salem Poetry Project, a weekly reading, and Salem Poetry Festival.
Art: the ice shelf and the magma by Desiree Dufresne
In the artist's words:
Desiree Dufresne is interested in exploring the many facets of life through the lenses of curiosity, critique, wonder, and spontaneity. Her abstractions of the experiences of women, queer people, and the human condition itself seek to find affirmation of life in the midst of sadness and anxiety. She has a reverence for art of all kinds, and is a voracious consumer of visual art, film, written works, and performance art. She lets herself soak in the genius of other artists and refracts her inspirations through her own unique perspective. The self-taught artist works mostly with acrylic and oil paint, but also likes to play with gouache and watercolor here and there. Her unique sense of texture and composition brings the viewer into another world of perception wherein colors and shapes tell a story that is meant to be creatively interpreted. She loves working with different paint media and exploring the strengths and challenges of each one. Her application is confident, irreverent, and at times absurd, but every line, scribble, distorted shape, and unusual color is applied with studied intent. Desiree works as a teacher in Los Angeles, CA and has received two degrees in History. She has been accepted to the MFA in Fine Arts program at the admired OTIS College of Art and Design, and plans to begin classwork next year. Her artwork is included in several private art collections throughout the Untied States. She has also created many commissioned works of art.