Susan Tepper is a twenty-year writer and the author of nine published books of fiction and poetry. Currently she is in production for an off-Broadway play that she adapted from one of her novels, and hopes to see it performed before 2025! A native New Yorker, Tepper lives with her husband and her dog. http://www.susantepper.com

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WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS A POEM

By Susan Tepper

Remember me to your dead.
And Job dropped his parcel on the ground
between us.
It thudded.
I have a hungry mind
yet threw up my hands in despair
crying out: Who am I to judge?

The dead have been placed
for contemplation
upon this swirling earth
despite my pleas of fairness
evaporating
into night’s cold crystals.

Then I looked again
seeing only vacant ground.

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WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS ON THE LANE

By Susan Tepper

There is none can duplicate
the lane traversed
in order to reach your door
passing daffodil heads
grouped and drooping
in final readiness.
There is no smoke rising
thin silver vapors
when a woman opens her door.
On this lane a stranger
might sense confusion
during darkness
wind slapping the wild stems.
Whilst I will always know this lane.
Traceable.
On my palm.
Waking or sleeping.
The pulsing to reach you.

 

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Digby Beaumont is a self-taught artist. An interview with him about his art plus a showcase of some of his portraiture feature in the November 2019 issue of Tupelo Quarterly. He is also a writer. His collection of flash fiction, one-page stories, Dancing Alone and Other Lessons, was released in early 2020. One of his stories was chosen to appear in Best Small Fictions 2020. You can see more of his work on his website: https://digbybeaumont.com/