Issue 6
August 2023
Editors’ Note
Welcome to the Fall 2023 Issue of RockPaperPoem! So much has happened since our Spring issue, including our new RPP Facebook page. Please follow us on Facebook for the latest RPP news and special updates.
Submissions for Issue 6 again set a record for us in terms of individual submitters and poems. We are deeply grateful to everyone who offered their work for us to read.
In this issue, we welcome back two previous contributors: Robbie Gamble creates a memorable scene of travel in his poem, and Diane LeBlanc crafts portraits of nature in her two poems.
But many more poets who are new to RPP will also touch your emotions, whether it’s a search for love, the smallness of the universe, or the risk of losing Earth’s beauty. Enjoy the work of Alicia Elkort, Jane C. Miller, Heather Hallberg Yanda, and (with an RPP shoutout to) Sarah Wallis from Scotland…all of whom are wonderful poets who bring depth to our sense of humanity.
For more excellent poetry, remember to check out our six recent nominees’ poems for 2024 Best of the Net, too.
Finally, we hope you will notice the latest addition to our website: A “Donate” button! If you like the poetry we present to you triannually, please consider making a donation. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteer poets. Every dollar we receive will help us build out RPP programs and opportunities for our poets and readership.
Thanks again for joining us here for another great issue of 21 contemporary poems we think you will enjoy as much as we do!
RPP Editors
Image Credits:
Bde Mka Ska (Lake White Earth) - “Sunrise Over Marsh in Big Stone County, MN’ Image Author: Fibonaci Blue https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minneapolis_neighborhood_East_Bde_Maka_Ska_%2852118252380%29.jpg.
Keepers - “a single daffodil struggling to grow in spring’ Daffodil Tulip Composite ©Deborah Goschy, All Rights Reserved.
Cilantro - Image Author: KamranAydinov on Freepik https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/top-view-fresh-greens-light-blue-background_17057938.htm#query=cilantro&position=16&from_view=search&track=sph Hearts ©Deborah Goschy, All Rights Reserved.
Silicon Rings On Calloused Hands - Image Author: Pxfuel https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-onqaf.
a sudden shift in glasnost - Image Author: Kennan, George, 1845-1924 https://garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/media/siberia-and-the-exile-system-1891-14596239948-1ebddf?zoom=true
The Dreaming Deep - Scared pufferfish ©Deborah Goschy, 2023, All Rights Reserved.
Makeshift Morgue - a scene of aid workers helping injured/dead in halls of hospitals and airplane hangers during modern war https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dead_bodies_in_a_makeshift_hospital_and_morgue_in_the_hotel_Ukraine_lobby._Clashes_in_Kyiv,_Ukraine._Events_of_February_20,_2014.jpg Image Author: Mstyslav Chernov/Unframe https://unframe.com/
Another Probable Cause - Title: Prairie Grass at Bluff Park Image Author: ©Deborah Goschy, All Rights Reserved.
Rogue Wave - Wedding-Water composite photo ©Deborah Goschy, 2023, All Rights Reserved.
Components
Photo 1 (water splash) https://www.pexels.com/photo/water-splash-1582619/ Image Author: Igor Faoro
Photo 2 (wedding couple) https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/amp/media/wedding-couple-4881699415-732e5b Image Author: none
Photo 3 (groom carrying bride) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Groom_carrying_the_bride_%28AM_75857-1%29.jpg Image Author: none
Photo 4 (woman sitting in car) https://www.wallpaperflare.com/woman-wearing-white-wedding-dress-sitting-in-vehicle-human-person-wallpaper-axmxj Image Author: none
live edge - a carved cherry wood bowl sitting on a pine table holding fruit--raspberry, rosehip, crab apple, blackberry
Components
Mix berries in glass bowl https://www.rawpixel.com/image/447896/free-photo-image-frozen-berries-blackberries Image Author: public domain
Cutting board https://www.rawpixel.com/image/83202/free-photo-image-wood-wooden-table-textures Author: Rawpixel
Cherrywood bowl drawing ©Deborah Goschy, 2023, All Rights Reserved
Spider - a spider and spiderweb https://pixabay.com/illustrations/spider-spiderweb-cobweb-spider-silk-5587875/ Image Author: mariananbu
Two Promising Places to Live in the Northern Constellation, Lyra - far into space, another small but possibly habitable planet - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lyra_constellation_detail_long_exposure.jpg Image Author: Scott Roy Atwood
Blue-Spotted Salamander - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Spotted_Salamander_%28Ambystoma_laterale%29_%2844133419344%29.jpg Image Author: Peter Paplanus from St. Louis, Missouri
Something to Cry About - listening to nighttime outdoor sounds on a hot evening https://www.rawpixel.com/image/4021654/photo-image-background-light-halloween Image Author: not listed
Transatlantic Blues - https://unsplash.com/photos/r3bZMKGjhZQ Image Author: Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash Tulip@3fever
Every Day Something Different - woman in brown coat holding white dog on brown dirt road during sunset - Photo by Patrick Schätz on Unsplash
getting ready - Residents Take Part in Organized Daily Exercises in One of the Public Pools at Century Village Retirement Community https://www.rawpixel.com/image/8765608/photo-image-vintage-public-domain-women Photographer: Schulke, Flip, 1930-2008 - U.S. National Archives (Source)
Abecedarian of Un-becoming - man wearing white dress shirt near sea https://unsplash.com/photos/jtTqIwvGiUg Image Author: Steven Spassov
Of the Safe House, Now Empty - abandoned white wooden house surrounded by green trees during daytime Photo by Sonya Romanovska on Unsplash
Figures from the Famine - Figures from the Famine - Image Author: Heather Hallberg Yanda
Finishing - Knitting yarn and snake ©Deborah Goschy, All Rights Reserved
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