An award-winning author, poet, and emeritus English Professor, Sterling Warner’s works have appeared many literary magazines, journals, and anthologies including Anti-Heroin Chic, The Galway Review, Lothlórien Poetry Journal, Ekphrastic Review, and Sparks of Calliope. Warner’s poetry/fiction include Rags and Feathers, Without Wheels, ShadowCat, Edges, Memento Mori: A Chapbook Redux, Serpent’s Tooth, Flytraps, Cracks of Light: Pandemic Poetry & Fiction 2019-2022, Halcyon Days: Collected Fibonacci, Abraxas: Poems (2024), and Masques: Flash Fiction & Short Stories. Presently, Warner writes, hosts/participates in “virtual” poetry readings, turns wood, and enjoys boating and fishing in Washington.
Remains Adrift
We stood on the shoreline
of Seacliff State Park
bending our heads in joyful sadness
as we released Grandpa’s ashes
atop the incoming tide, swallowed
by a succession of seismic waves
cradled in the ocean’s turquoise bosom
heavenly halos
merged grief and tranquility
morning vigil blessed
A long time gone, Grandpa would
send us on competitive errands…
small fists clutching greenbacks,
we’d chase ice cream trucks
down Bluette Avenue, attempting
to catch a driver’s attention first,
order popsicles for family barbecues
the good humor man
conned me selling unwanted
banana freezies
Grandpa pampered his own children
inspired confidence in their offspring
anticipation preceded visitations
leaving behind cheery remembrances
as vibrant as tributes expressed at a wake;
now he floats calmly beneath azure skies
voyage guided by mermaid caretakers
his essence mingles
in salt water he cherished
comforting loved ones
Midnight Flight
Sneaking down the back hallway
shuffling across the top riser
I descend a half-turn staircase
unclipped toenails snagging the rug’s
speckled granite shag that covers nosings
& gathers static electricity crackling,
popping when released like fried bacon
as I slink step-by-step, approach
the landing, then snake my way
three floors to the mezzanine
where people would gather, sip coffee,
& discuss architectural aesthetics
in full view during waking hours;
there practical design takes a backseat
to twisted bannisters & 45-degree
corners as mouse colored dust balls
blown by a hot air furnace collect;
like a weightless, lint time capsule
they eternalize soprano creaks
& baritone moans while oak floorboards
break silence, expanding, contracting,
echoing, livening up the dead of night
accenting visual perspective & my journey
assessing Escher’s Relativity relishing
the absence of gravity’s laws & bulb shaped heads
ascending & exiting seven fights of twisted steps
secretly slipping away under starry skies
my family’s space-distorted staircase conquered.
Cryptology Miner
Awe-inspiring.
glittering saffron
sandwiched between faults in veins
quartz zone deposits
Abundant.
amongst earth’s ribcage
lingering gilt opulence
freed by rushing streams
Liberated.
gold bullion replaced
by digital prospectors’
cryptocurrency
Unremarkable.
Facing the Ivory Carpenter
Nightingale crescendos whistle
though speakers where people
sit like condemned criminals
anxiously awaiting the noisy whirl
of spinning drills, sucking devices,
slurping mouths, and saliva ejectors
as wide-eyed dentists smile between
tooth extractions, bridge replacements
root canals, crowns, fillings, and cleanings.
While moaning patients suffocate beneath
heavy lead aprons, technicians stand behind walls
to shield themselves from harmful x-ray radiation.
Once jawbreakers commence their agonizing trade
victims beg for nitrous oxide instead of lidocaine
to anesthetize their Little Shop of Horrors visitations.
The Galway Review 