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my cat considersmy body a locationhome embraces him Aletha Irby is very grateful to have been granted this time, on this planet, to spend with the English language. Her personal library includes books of poetry, books about cats (fiction and nonfiction), history books, novels, short story collections, mysteries, horror stories,Continue Reading

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for Mallarmé From the grand fountainOf fonts and gilded calligraphiesUncial and Old EnglishItalic and the irrepressiblyFecund BatardeFrolics forth the letter FMy favorite scriven as a schoolgirlFor it was foliate with serifs as a forestFraught as wrought ironAs the fauna and floraWho flock to and flummoxThe four-letter faultlineResonant as well withContinue Reading

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a masculine marmaladeour feline bathesbetween his toesmore assiduouslythan anyone we knowclaws flexingto and frolike translucent crescent moonscored by conquered bloodthe rasping strokeof his scouring tonguea ferocity pristineas raindrops or water hoseamong the wieldedyielding thornsof this bucephalus-headed rose. My name is Aletha Irby and I have been writing poetry for overContinue Reading

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Stay close to any sounds thatmake you glad to be alive. Hafiz through the morningstill silenced by darknessyour sudden eruptionallegroarpeggioappoggiaturajoyful enoughto resurrect icarusto enjoin him nidicolousto soar forth once againairborne on wingéd rhapsodyoh songbirdyou remind usthat we can never flytoo close to the sunand i too risefledged by your warblingwhichContinue Reading

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Straw-bodiedCorpseAlarminglyRed-headed, sporting his Rockabilly pompadour;Effigy gangly-toothed,Cropped, andRickety after the manner of Rumpelstiltskin:Overalls ransacked from the ragbag by ramshackle moonlight,Warding away zombie-feathered crows.Continue Reading

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Eugene & EugeniaOn their honeymoonFinally entwinedIn the ampersandWhich separatedThe italic letteringOf their namesOn wedding invitationsSupersedeThe eugenics initiativesOf sansevieria-tongued mothers-in-lawEugenia’s ovumA planet-sized Gordian KnotWhich Eugene’s spermatozoonPierces like Alexander’s swordTo procreate the jejune EuphrosyneWho nonetheless will evolve rapidlyTo befriend textile and tektiteBoth terrestrialAnd extraterrestrial textsWho eschewing Iphigenian virtuesAn Aegean Agamemnon’sDrunken narcissistic bluesWillContinue Reading