Divination
by Patrick Kindig
Small migrations are a sign
of the apocalypse: the stars
replaced by baby teeth, the moon
by a crumpled receipt. The
cherry blossoms returned
in February: yet another. Soon
the rains will come, the sky’s paint
will begin to crack. Here
comes the first blue flake.
You’d better find an umbrella.
Patrick Kindig is a dual MFA/PhD candidate at Indiana University, where he writes poems and studies 20th century American literature. His micro-chapbook, Dry Spell, is forthcoming from Porkbelly Press in late 2015, and his poems have appeared or are forthcoming in the minnesota review, Fugue, BLOOM, Court Green, and elsewhere.
What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “Divination”? “Divination” actually started half a year ago as a much longer piece that grew out of a single phrase: “it’s not just shells / that sound like the ocean, it’s all / empty things.” As you can see, a great deal ended up getting cut over the next six months, including the originary image of seashells. This, I think, is how my best poems get written: as a kind of erasure, a walking stick whittled down to a toothpick.
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 March 15, 2025. Submit here.
Upcoming
01/13 • Edward Thomas-Herrera
01/20 • Zero Laforga
01/27 • Jack Bedell
02/03 • TBD
02/10 • Gaurav Bhalla
02/17 • Callie Dean
02/24 • TBD