We are super excited to announce our nominations for this year’s Pushcart Prize! They are…
Congratulations to Joan and Carrie! Be sure to read their work by clicking on the links above!
siblings
bloodied voices across
the clear phone
invoking aeonian histories
context as a flightless bird
tight swallows
carry sympathy in armfuls
jutting under elbows and
staining fingertips
you offer infection to your
open wound
of a sister
and roll your eyes at the dusty evening
when fevers curve under shut
eyelids wind between cilia
to proliferate
hide in the cusp
of my hand, brother
spin these silks until they’re invisible
and pass its smoothness
let the fibers sap what
they need and you don’t
those that love you
will wring you thoroughly
and every drop will
count
—
Sara Matson’s writing can be found or is forthcoming in Rabid Oak, Mannequin Haus, Anti-Heroin Chic, FIVE:2:ONE, Burning House Press, A) Glimpse) Of), Poached Hare, OCCULUM Journal, Dream Pop Press, Waxing and Waning, and elsewhere. She lives in Chicago with her rad husband + cats, and tweets as @skeletorwrites
And I find it again:
The only thing that helps
Like the difference between drowning
In fresh
Or salt water.
Same result,
But one is easier to swallow
on the way Down
It stings less in the eyes
Of those around you
Being hit in the face
With your wild, desperate
Thrashing. Searching
For One Last Truth
at the bottom
of an ancient
sea
—
Danielle de Corcho teaches English as a Second Language and writes poetry and creative nonfiction. Her poems have appeared in HEArt Journal Online, Scintilla Magazine, and the Submittable Blog. She lives just outside of New Orleans with her family.
Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash
We got a chance to catch up with past contributor Allison Thorpe! (You can read her poems “The Last Time My Mother Baked Bread” and “Resolution” in our Winter 2017 collection ebook, available for purchase here.) Her latest book The Shepherds of Tenth Avenue is available for preorder through Finishing Line Press. Find out what inspires Allison, her advice for women writers, and more!
What inspires you the most?
I lived in rural Kentucky for many years, and nature was my constant inspiration. When I moved to Lexington, I found motivation in the tremendous creative energy all around me: the artists at the museum across the street, two bookstores (Brier Books and The Wild Fig) who continually hold readings and workshops, the woman who draws mandalas on the sidewalk, the colorful book benches from the Carnegie Center, the Buddha Babes, and all my writing groups. Lexington is a dynamic center of literary pursuits and encouragement.
Who are your favorite women writers?I’m all over the board, and my catalog of women writers grows every day. I do tend to gravitate toward Kentucky/Appalachian writers like Crystal Wilkerson, Ada Limon, Rebecca Gayle Howell, Jan Sparkman, and so many others. I’m involved with the Kentucky Women Writers Conference (the longest running literary festival of women in the nation and held in Lexington each September) which offers amazing women authors in a variety of genres. I come away with armloads of books and more new favorites. Currently, I am reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh which is beautifully disturbing. I support women writers and am heartened by the variety of voices and stories.
Being retired, I have the joy of writing every day. I often have several projects going and see where my keyboard takes me when I sit down. I’m someone who gets ideas when I should be sleeping, so I always have pen and paper close at hand. That drowsy state just before or upon waking is a gold mine for me. I can’t tell you how many poems have been born in those moments. June is Lexington Poetry Month, and Accents Publishing challenges writers to post a poem a day. It’s fun and exciting to read and respond to the work of others. I love the chain reactions that arise.
Support each other! Go to readings. Buy books. Open those doors that allow women a voice. I am a great believer in finding a writing partner or a writing group that will support and critique work. Even joining a book club can be insightful to one’s own poetry. Feedback is vital and necessary. I am also a great believer in revision, something I preached to my students over the decades. Revision is a good place to experiment with voice, with point of view, with language.
Dear beloved readers—
This letter originally was supposed to be about all the awesome work we have been publishing and all the great things to come for DDR. Like many of you, I have experienced a range of emotions recently. Mostly heartbreak, anger, and confusion… But now, it’s time to speak.
Dying Dahlia is so proud and honored to be able to share work by women. Dying Dahlia along with many other publications believe that women’s voices need to be heard. When I started DDR it was for that reason and that reason alone. And we will continue to do so.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault here are some things we here at Dying Dahlia want you to know…
Do not be silent.
We hear you.
We believe you.
Speak your truth.
And know that we stand with you.
You are not alone.
I, too, am a survivor. I was sexually abused as a child. And like some survivors who are stepping forward now, the trauma I experienced happened over 20 years ago. Do I remember the clothes I was wearing? No. Do I remember the dates it happened on? No. But I remember.
It happened. It mattered. You matter. And I believe you.
I don’t know what is going to happen in the coming days. I know that I am inspired by the women who are using their voices to stand up for what is right.
We want to see and hear your voices. On blogs, on social media, in our submissions, in other journals, wherever. We support you and your efforts to stop this plague. Because it is a plague. It is not okay. It has never been okay.
There are many people out there who believe as I do— survivors should be heard and supported. If you know someone who has been sexually assaulted, reach out to them. This is an incredibly painful and overwhelming time for many survivors right now. Listen to them. Come from a place of love. That’s all that is needed.
But most importantly, to all the survivors out there— stay strong and speak your truth. To a friend, to a family member, to the world. Put it in a poem, in a story, in a song or just say it out loud.
And don’t stop. Don’t ever, ever stop. I know I won’t.
Much Love,
Abbie Copeland
Editor-in-Chief
