Poem with Political Leanings
Things could have gone differently for the left, for the right, for
all of us humping our implausible lives into an ideal future, not
one that appears preoccupied with theology and violence.
Nevertheless, Rainclouds over the Ouachitas excel in not giving
a damn, nor do hissing possums that live in peace with their
ticks.

Poem with Ecology
Something about maple trees. Something about coal slurry.
Something about a stream and what we are now allowed to
throw in it.

Poem Awake at 2 AM
Night that keeps company with a regulation moon.
Night in the unlit.
Night at this time belongs to the packrats and field mice and the
cats who find them.

Poem with Magic
The saints and magicians trundle among us,
to steal from silence nothing silence misses.

Poem That Might be a Love Poem
The lie he said didn’t matter. The lie that did
was floorboards filled with rain,
was headstrong, was condoms. The lie was ornate.
We ate that lie from each other’s hands.

Poem with My Life Philosophy in It
I always think there is time for one more.

First appeared in Untold Arkansas: an Anthology

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About the Author

Wendy Taylor Carlisle lives in the Arkansas Ozarks. She is the author of four books, including, The Mercy of Traffic, winner of the Phillip H. McMath 2020 Post-Publication Award and five chapbooks. Her work appears in Atlanta Review, Mom Egg Review, pacificREVIEW and this spring Doubleback Books reprinted her 2008 book, Discount Fireworks as a free download.