Susan Isla Tepper has a new Novel out titled “Hair of a Fallen Angel” from Spuyten Duyvil Books, NYC. A twenty-year writer, she authored 12 published books of fiction and poetry and 5 Stage Plays. Honors include 21 Pushcart Prize Nominations, a win in the Francis Ford Copolla Zoetrope Contest for the Novel (2003), Second Place Winner in Story/South Million Writers Award and many more awards. 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: https://youtu.be/W2HVIc4NrqY

GREASE THE PAN

By Susan Isla Tepper

Starlings caught in the net
plucked bald
& wrapped in newspaper
on the table

soon to be transformed
into fish and chips
get ready—
grease the pan

The cat bright eyed
prepared to spring
ensconced
in glossy feathers
littering the floor.
Settle down you tell the cat.

You’ve rationalized:
Those damn birds weren’t
born here
they’re a nuisance
so what the hell—

fire up the stove.

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.