Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty-year writer and the author of 12 published books of fiction and poetry and 2 stage plays. Her satirical Novel concerning the pandemic is titled OFFICE and was just released by Wilderness House Press. She also previewed her play THE CROOKED HEART concerning artist Jackson Pollock, in his later years, at the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC on October 25, 2022. http://www.susantepper.com

Ajar

This is the door that represents
Love— you are not a border country
mingling foods
Some of this some of that
hoping to appease both palates

Set your table for
the living and the dead
for animals roaming in the wild
people sleeping on grates
to keep warm: it has come down to

The door will remain ajar

Digby Beaumont, Three A.M. , 2020, acrylic on canvas board, 10 x 8 inches

Digby Beaumont is an English artist. His work has been published extensively in collaboration with writers of fiction, poetry and music. He works on portraits, still lifes and landscapes. He also has a series titled I Don’t Know What Came Over Me, a whimsical and poignant take on the theme of what it is to be human. He works with acrylic paint, mostly on canvas board, and pen and ink on paper. Digby is also a widely published writer.