Guidelines



Submission Guidelines: Send unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

JUST SAY A PRAYER

by Sarah E. Colona


NY Daily News, Dec. 3, 2015


just say a prayer
   would halt that hand
      which holds a gun
            its bullets itch
               to unwrite life

      just say a prayer
         would shield one child
            teflon coated
                  kevlar mittened
                     future made flesh

         just say a prayer
            would lop off rot
               hard sear all grief
                     stitch forgiveness
                        forceful and swift

            just say a prayer
                our dead won’t hear
                  fresh ghosts are proof
                       each Second takes
                            more than it gives


Sarah E. Colona lives and teaches in her home state of New Jersey. She is the author of three poetry collections: Hibernaculum (Gold Wake Press, 2013), Thimbles (dancing girl press, 2012) and That Sister, which will be published by dgp in 2016.