Something the Cold Leaves

by Wendy Blankenship

A bird, its breath still
on the window, one wing
broke open.

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Wendy Blankenship lives and teaches in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her poems have been published in Three Line Poetry, The Sugar House Review and Girls With Insurance as well as in Along the Black, a poetry and photography collaboration about the lifestyle and experiences of Hot Shot wildland fire fighters.

What appeals to you about writing (very) compressed poems? What are some of the approaches you’ve had to take specifically for this form?

Is it enough? This is a question I often ask myself after writing another short poem. For some unexplained reason, I always think my poems should be longer. To respond to the question, I attempt to expand each line. I develop a bigger picture of the image and emotion by adding images to fill in the background. After setting the poem aside for a week, I come back to it and find that the initial 3, sometimes six lines, are always enough. The rest is just unneeded stuff.

Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.

Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.

Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.

Submissions

Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.

Upcoming

10/12 • Kathy Fish
10/19 • Katherine Garrison
10/26 • Beverly Jackson
11/02 • Robert Scotellaro
11/09 • T.L. Sherwood
11/16 • Susan Buchler
11/23 • Chelsea Stickle
11/30 • TBD
12/07 • TBD
12/14 • TBD
12/21 • TBD
12/28 • TBD