The Gift
by Suzanne Verrall
my grandmother gave us
a set of knucklebones
to play with
she said they were
from last night’s
mutton stew
but I’ve seen
the way
she wrings her hands
Suzanne Verrall lives in Adelaide, Australia. Her flash fiction, essays and poetry appear in Atlas and Alice, Flash Frontier, Archer Magazine, Lip
Magazine, Poetry NZ Yearbook, Australian Poetry Journal, and others. www.suzanneverrall.com
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What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “The Gift”? I was thinking about family and generations and sacrifices when I wrote this poem. I almost wish Charles Simic had written it just so I could see
what he would have called it. I envy the way he uses an unexpected title to add an extra dimension to a poem. I’d ask him, but I don’t have his email.
Congrats to Christopher Allen for having a work from HOUSEHOLD TOXINS being chosen to appear in BSF 2019 from Sonder Press.
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions is now CLOSED. Check out our new category triptychs! The next submission period opens September 15, 2019; submit here.
Upcoming
09/05 • Richard Baldasty (1 of 4)
09/07 • Briel Felton
09/09 • Chelsea Stickle
09/11 • Jeffrey Spahr-Summers
09/12 • Richard Baldasty (2 of 4)
09/14 • Frances Badgett
09/16 • Sarah Russell
09/18 • Ryan Stone
09/19 • Richard Baldasty (3 of 4)
09/23 • TBD
09/25 • TBD
09/26 • Richard Baldasty (4 of 4)
09/30 • TBD
10/02 • TBD
10/03 • J.I. Kleinberg
10/07 • TBD
10/09 • TBD
10/10 • Lilian McCarthy
12/02 • Tara Campbell