Jenna Le
Honeymoon Dress
It's pink, with peachy-orange undertones,
speckled with dots of slightly darker hue:
a garment she would not have thought to own
in her self-conscious youth, when midnight blue
and gray and black were all she ever wore.
She's grown more bold, more willing to enjoy
bright colors. Having now outlived all four
of her beloved sisters, what real choice
could she see looming but to scrap safe habits
and try new things like…well, like getting married,
and her kind husband likes to see her rabbit
about in cheerful clothes, no longer buried
beneath the weight of gloomy old fixations,
likes seeing her glow while gathering carnations.
Sijo for Martha Davis
There's something / too intimate /
about the sax / on this record /
like being / at a party /
feeling awkward / hands behind back /
when someone / walking behind you /
presses your palm / fleetingly
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| AUTHOR BIO |
| Jenna Le (jennalewriting.com) is the author of Six Rivers (NYQ Books, 2011), A History of the Cetacean American Diaspora (Indolent Books, 2017), an Elgin Awards Second Place winner, voted on by the international membership of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, and Manatee Lagoon (Acre Books, 2022). She was selected by Marilyn Nelson as winner of Poetry By The Sea’s inaugural sonnet competition. Her poems appear in AGNI, Denver Quarterly, Los Angeles Review, Massachusetts Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Pleiades, Poet Lore, Verse Daily, West Branch, and elsewhere. A daughter of Vietnamese refugees, she has a B.A. in math and an M.D. and works as a physician and educator in New York City. |
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| POETRY CONTRIBUTORS |
 Grace Bauer
Hilary Biehl
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas
Julia Griffin
A. A. Gunther
Katie Hartsock
Ruth Hoberman
Babo Kamel
Jean L. Kreiling
Lavinia Kumar
Jenna Le
Marjorie Maddox
Mary Grace Mangano
Kathleen McClung
Angela Alaimo O'Donnell
T. R. Poulson
Richelle Slota
Linda Stern
Myrna Stone
Gail White
Amanda Williamsen
Joyce Wilson
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| Anna Lee Hafer is a studio artist based in the Philadelphia area whose work is heavily influenced by such famous surrealist painters as René Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso, all of whom strove to build their own realities through small glimpses into a particularly confusing, but utterly unique worldview that dictates its own specific set of instructions. With references to the laws and physics of Alice's Wonderland, the artist challenges the audience's inherent understanding of perspective, reality, and universal order.
In her work, Hafer pours and layers paint to create dimension and texture, mixing different styles and colors onto each other until they produce a 3D effect. Through marker and pencil that create shadow, she further enhances these forms and separates them from the background. Heavier layers and thicker brushstrokes in the foreground of her work push the painting toward the viewer, whereas the thinner layers and small brushstrokes in the background, elongate the space and push away from the viewer. By juxtaposing interior and exterior elements, Hafer makes the audience question whether they are looking at something inside or outside.
For additional information, please visit www.hafer.work.
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