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quarterly journal of poetic and visual art

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Fall/Winter 2009-10

 

Poetry

tom oristaglio
scott summers
cindy childress
tom rechtin
james b. nicola
debra rymer
doug draime
corey mesler
rebecca schumejda
chris crittenden
arlene ang
joey nicoletti
brad johnson
lorie allred
elizabeth kay
alexander russo
nissa lee
kenneth gurney
jessi lee gaylord
keith brighouse

Flash

ajay vishwanathan
ethel rohan
william "cully" bryant


Featured Artists
julie steiner

Steiner Interview
by Alex Nodopaka

Editors

Jennifer VanBuren
Jai Britton
Alex Nodopaka
Patrick Carrington


Mannequin Envy in memory of poet and artist Douglas Gamrath

 

 

 

Michelle Augello-Page

 

Cog

He says I'm nothing
but a goddamn whore, and it's true
I take his money, in the soft fold
of touch, I let his hungry mouth
onto mine, allow his searching hands
to feel the topography of my body
and it is a grim reality, I prostitute
my affections and he is greedy, he wants
and wants more, he is not content
ever, he wants woman, he will take it
when he can, he will take it from me
because he knows I have nothing else
and my own want is stronger
money, that cursed root, into which
nothing can grow, it unfurls itself as a
painful and knotted spine, that branch
lifting from the dirt, reaching desperately
and uselessly towards the sky


July

I love you like a woman
pinned to a carnival wheel

blindfolded, I spin
taut against splintered wood

my body is a temporal thing
skin, blood, bone

you throw knives
at the negative spaces

between my fingers, along
the line of neck and jaw

I hold my breath, I do not
speak. I don't want to break

your concentration
and risk a slip in direction

the sweat on your brow
is glistening in the hot sun

" I am a candidate for an MFA in Creative Writing at Adelphi University, where I have been exploring playwriting and fiction. Recent poetry has been published in Copper Nickel (the tattoo issue). In my work, I seek to find beauty in harsh realities, to liberate speech from silence and to elucidate and elevate basic human experience. I am currently at work on a collection of poetry."

"Olga and Otto"

by Jennifer Balkan

Mannequin Envy no longer accepting submissions of poetry, art or flash fiction.

One final issue will be published in the spring. This will be an editor and reader's choice issue. Peruse the archives and send us your favorites!