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. A new play titled EVA & ADAMO will go up this year at THE TANK, NYC. Susan is a Brand Ambassador for The Galway Review. A Youtube music video for her new novel at: https://youtu.be/W2HVIc4NrqY
http://www.susantepper.com

 


To Reach You

By Susan Isla Tepper

– for R.S.

Along a quiet back street
overgrown with foliage
at the edge of a small city

where distant traffic noise

Coming upon
your black iron gate
clicked open then closed—
the final pull away

A slow walk to the door
stone path uneven— a mad
jungle of bushes,
and roses, too,
everything over-ripe

my hand sweeping away
the voluminous vines.

When I think of your name
now I think of loss and sorrow—
My loss, your sorrow

crowding us
in the little room
— all touching forbidden

tho’ one time you stood up
suddenly
cradling my head
like a prized melon while
I wept broken as the path.

Gone now,
but really not
as if we’d just spoken—
despite it has been an endless
number of years

I discover you’ve been
delivered gently to the angels.


Photo by Glenn Bowie

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.