Issue 8
March 2024
Editors’ Note
Dear RPP Readers,
As you enjoy the spring and early summer of 2024, we welcome you to the latest issue of RockPaperPoem!
We hope you noticed and already signed up for a free, new feature on our Homepage. By entering your “Subscribe” info, you will always be up-to-date on the latest RPP news. Whether there are open reading periods, closing dates, award announcements, or other special events we are planning, you will know it first. No junk, we promise.
We are again thrilled to present in Issue 8 a wonderful array of poems from an excellent line-up of poets. Returning to RPP are Micki Blenkush, Charity Everitt, and David B. Prather with lovely poems about people in checkout lines, aging, and dust, respectively! Joining them are a dozen more fine poets like Merrill Oliver Douglas and her poignant images about clothes, UK-resident Julie Didcock-Williams’ poem of the humanity in crocheting, Matthew Gilbert’s meditation on loss, and many more.
We hope you will find a few minutes in your day to enjoy these poems as much as we do!
All our best to you,
RPP Editors
Image Credits:
Out of the blue - Tudeley, All Saints Church: Marc Chagall south chancel window (left) Image Author: cc-by-sa/2.0 ©Michael Garlick - geograph.org.uk/p/5639577”
Elegy with Red Lace and Birds - Woman wearing a red gown. Photo by Becerra Govea Photo from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-wearing-a-red-gown-6134103/
Resistance - Image Author: Venus de Milo by Stephanie Klepacki, edited by Deborah Goschy.https://unsplash.com/photos/a-marble-statue-of-a-woman-in-front-of-a-marble-wall-XtiG9jkN3zU
Three Out of Five Ain’t Bad - Study of Angel's Hand for "Mercy's Dream" (1857) by Daniel Huntington. Original from The Smithsonian. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel. https://www.rawpixel.com/image/2464472/free-illustration-image-hand-paper-angel. Edited by Deborah Goschy.
Man, Revised - Older man's hands that are crossed. CC0 Public Domain. https://pxhere.com/en/photo/925338.
Holes - A Woman in Blue Knitted Sweater Holding a White Yarn. Image Author: Miriam Alonso https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-in-blue-knitted-sweater-holding-a-white-yarn-7585281/.
I Want - A glass of vodka (or other clear liquid). Image Author: 2happy https://www.stockvault.net/photo/136285/glass.
Siren for Somebody Else - Wait and Worry by Deborah Goschy
Components
Photo 1 (emergency lights) https://www.flickr.com/photos/drstarbuck/402517477 by Karen - CC BY 2.0 Deed, Attribution 2.0 Generic
Photo 2 (woman holding her head in her hand) https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1361566 CC0 Public Domain
In a Span of Minutes - Waiting lines in a Walmart. Image Author: Tom Arthur https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomarthur/203536580 CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Deed, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.
Alma - Couple Walking in the evening. https://i2.pickpik.com/photos/990/50/548/love-couple-boys-teens-de91a4e236c4a374661893e3695d1ca4.jpg.
Putting Clothes Away - Person Folding Pants on a Stool. Image Author: PNW Production https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-folding-pants-on-a-stool-9218528/.
Night of Ravens - Flock of raven during stratocumulus clouds. Image Author: unknown https://www.pickpik.com/flock-of-birds-birds-swarm-mountain-sea-water-9782.
Forecast - The Case of the Haunted Plastic Bag. © Deborah Goschy.
How to write a loss poem - Image of an origami heart. Image Author: Valentine https://www.flickr.com/photos/modular_dodecahedron/17303447040. CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.
The Next Stage of Grief - A Rocky Beach in Waterville, Ireland. © Deborah Goschy.
Uncommon Dust - “Broom, Dust, and Memory” Composite Photo by Deborah Goschy
Photo 1 "Broom on Wood" by Bob Jagendorf https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Broom_on_Wood.jpg
Photo 2 "Smiling Woman" by Andrea Placquadio https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-photography-of-smiling-woman-948873/
Photo 3 "Family Dinner" by Ksenia Chernaya https://www.pexels.com/search/family%20dinner/
