Every Day Poems

A Poem A Day

Travel Poems

pantoum for the parting by Nkateko Masinga

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pantoum for the parting

by Nkateko Masinga

what a mess i will leave you with
none the wiser, mass of fragility
baby girl, my face in miniature
turn the ache into architecture

none the wiser, mass of fragility
grow smart like mama, eloquent
turn the ache into architecture
speeches at presidential suites

grow smart like mama, eloquent
your father’s height, dizzy spins
speeches at presidential suites
hopelessly enchant the masses

your father’s height, dizzy spins
baby girl, my face in miniature
hopelessly enchant the masses
what a mess i will leave you with

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Nkateko Masinga is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of three poetry collections: ‘The Sin In My Blackness’ (2015). ‘A War Within The Blood’ (2016) and ‘While The World Was Burning’ (2017). Her work has been published in the 2017 edition of U.S journal ‘Illuminations’ and she is a 2019 Fellow of the Ebedi International Writers Residency.

Bus Depot, Midnight by Thomas Boyd

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Bus Depot, Midnight

by Thomas Boyd

Gizelle behind the counter
Gleaming black as oil, as night
And she speaks Creole
To her friend who is just as black
And with blonde curls
They are chattering away in Creole
Under the Clint Black gaze
of a Roy Rogers portrait
A cowboy from an Ohio River town
Where there are no cowboys
And no Creole is spoken
This is going on while a man
His wife and three little kids
Argue in Spanish
About whether or not they just called the bus to Tampa
And ‘ol Roy
Just squints and grins at us
Because after all
Happy trails, pardner

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Thomas Boyd has written professionally since college. He served as press secretary and legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, and as an account executive with a major international public relations firm. He was staff speechwriter for the American Stock Exchange and contributed to policy presentations at Chemical Bank. As vice president of a nonprofit public service media company, he created advertising campaign and client education materials. His most recent assignments include revising and editing a doctoral thesis, and a 24-hour turnaround of a promotional one-sheet for a prominent musical artist. He currently publishes tbo2010.wordpress.com, a popular blog on events and enthusiasms.

Good-bye Florida by Nanette L. Avery

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Good-bye Florida

by Nanette L. Avery

U.S. 1 drips into the into the Atlantic
where the sun sets and tourists applaud;
not because they have never seen such a sight,
but because the margaritas are sweeter and
the parrot on the man’s shoulder squawks on cue just as the
oranges and reds flirt above the horizon.
They strike a pose barely long enough to focus the camera
before slipping into the water and getting swallowed-up in twilight.
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Nanette L. Avery grew up on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; a small island in the Lesser Antilles. She is the author of a number of books including Sixty Jars in a Pioneer Town and My Mother’s Tattoo And Other Stories For Kids. Her poetry and literary works can be found in publications such as Poetica, Everyday Poems, Americana Magazine of Popular Culture, Digital Americana, Florida English Journal, Middle Ground, Broken Circles Anthology, and more. www.nanetteavery.com