“Blind Date Venus”
by Eric Howard
“Why send me a lesbian, Cupid?”
I asked when I saw her. “To please her father, stupid.”
“Blind Date Venus” is a landay, a poetic form that literally means “a short, poisonous snake.” It is a primarily oral poetic tradition of the Pashtun provinces of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is composed of couplets of 22 syllables (9 in the first line, 13 in the second). Tranditionally, they rhyme or slant rhyme.
“church ladies”
by rose betit
tears filled in the wrinkles in ms. mable’s face
like little rivers and tributaries of rivers.
she proclaimed how it was the lord had seen fit to save her
wretched soul,
and I could be saved too.
ms. gunnels and ms. wilson
agreed, with vigorous nods
over fruit punch at fellowship time.
in the church basement
where the flock was easily lured
with the promise of donuts after the sermon
they formed a circle
and descended upon me
this trifecta of godly ladies of the church,
an avalanche of polyester and powder
come to set me free.
Church ladies is a powerful poem, deliciously sarcastic, and so vividly painted that you feel there, including the smell of punch and donuts. I love it!