Susan Isla Tepper has a Novella just out from Wilderness House Press titled GIRL UPSIDE DOWN. Currently it is only available from the author direct.  A twenty-year writer, she has penned 14 published books of fiction and poetry and 7 Stage Plays. Honors include 25 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 more. Her stage 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.
http://www.susantepper.com

Rest

By Susan Isla Tepper

I’ve come here to rest
my heart the most tired
Other parts—
still do
what they do
I feel my heart folding
long moldy— a pillow
someone has dropped
to this floor
tear streaked, bloodied
the filth of life
My heart settles in
doesn’t mind—
craving a long
quiet stretch:
bug noises bird chirps
are welcomed.
Don’t ring my doorbell
the rest to be left
for the rest of my life.

Photography by Glenn Bowie

Glenn Bowie is a published poet, lyricist, musician 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.