Susan Isla Tepper presented her darkly comic play CLANDESTINE in an Equity Premiere Staged-reading, hosted by SHOPTALK, on June 10 at EAG Guild Hall Theatre, NYC. Her latest Novel “Hair of a Fallen Angel” was published by Spuyten Duyvil Books. A twenty-year writer, she’s written 12 published books of fiction and poetry and 7 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 latest novel at: https://youtu.be/W2HVIc4NrqY

Rape Scene

By Susan Isla Tepper

Then came the tilt
not languid but rough
unexpected
coming from behind
pushing your shoulder
your lips bleeding
everything upside down

the land askew
a rape scene

the car leaned so far over
only by some miracle
he got it straight

Crawling out before fire
chewed the whole thing up—

After that nothing
nothing was the same.

Poet/photographer Alexis Rhone Fancher is published in Best American Poetry, Rattle, The American Journal of Poetry, Spillway, Plume, Diode, The Pedestal Magazine, Duende, Vox Populi, Gargoyle, Elysium Review, and elsewhere. Her photos are published worldwide, including the covers of The Pedestal Magazine, Witness, Heyday, Pithead Chapel, The Mas Tequila Review, and a six page spread in River Styx.. She’s authored ten poetry collections, most recently, TRIGGERED, (MacQueens) and BRAZEN. (NYQ). A multi Pushcart Prize and Best of the net nominee,Alexis recently won Best MicroFictions, 2025. She calls the Mojave Desert home. www.alexisrhonefancher.com