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
http://www.susantepper.com

By Degrees

By Susan Isla Tepper

Every step turned cautionary
I am ever watchful 
as the sky seems to lower
by degrees

A path full of prickly things 
can be deadly

I’m not the person 
I used to be
breezy and risky
hair thrown back and
damn it all

If you see me walking
with my head bent downward

remind me of the patch
of sunlight 
forcing itself 
through all this uncertainty

Photography by Alexis Rhone Fancher

Poet/photographer, Alexis Rhone Fancher has authored 11 books of poetry and flash, most recently, EROTIC, and BRAZEN (both published by NYQ.), and TRIGGERED (MacQueens). Coming up: A Picture is Worth a Poet’s Words, a photo-portrait book of over 100 Southern California poets will be publishe in early 2026 by Moon Tide Press, in addition to publishing Alexis’ full-length, erotic book of poems and flash fiction, CockSure. SinkHole, a chapbook of twenty-five“sister” pantoums, exploring her beloved sister’s final illness and death, will be published by MacQueen’s in January, 2026. A multiple Best of the Net and Pushcart nominee, Alexis recently won Best MicroFiction 2025. She calls the Mojave Desert home..www.alexisrhonefancher.com