Susan Isla Tepper has a new Novel just out titled “Hair of a Fallen Angel” from Spuyten Duyvil Books, NYC. A twenty-year writer, she’s authored 12 books of fiction and poetry and 5 stage plays. Honors include 21 Pushcart Prize Nominations. Her play ‘The Crooked Heart’ concerning artist Jackson Pollock premiered on October 25, 2022 at the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Adapted from an earlier novel, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Susan is a Brand Ambassador for The Galway Review. A Youtube music video for her new novel at: https://youtu.be/W2HVIc4NrqY

LOST TO THE CLOUDS

By Susan Isla Tepper

The boy found a branch
under leaves
amassed
across the forest floor—
nearly tripping him—
Bending he held it up
this way and that;
catching a smatter of
sun on this thick-skinned
sturdy branch.
The boy did not feel sturdy.
Came to these woods
to escape
time and the properties
of time.
Sunlight puncturing
spaces between massive trees
lost to the clouds
the boy once considered
climbing—
so to become
lost to the clouds.
He studied his branch for pocks or dents
none that he could feel.
Perhaps a miracle branch
occurred to the boy .
That he tripped for a purpose
though what that might be
he couldn’t say
tortured by enchantment
pursued by a longing
to whittle the bark off.
He patted his shirt pocket
feeling for his knife.
Under hardened bark-skin
might be a purity
gone missing now everywhere.

Glenn Bowie is a published poet, lyricist, and photographer from the Boston area. He also owns and operates an elevator company that supplies custom-built elevators for clients from New England to Hollywood. Author of two poetry and photograph collections (Under the Weight of Whispers and Into the Thorns and Honey) on Big Table Publishing, he donates all profits from his books to various charities for the homeless and local animal shelters.