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
See what happens when you click below.
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.
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 OPEN. The submission period closes June 15, 2020; submit here.
Upcoming
05/27 • Michael Credico
05/28 • Sarah Sousa (9 of 10)
06/01 • Carol Guess
06/03 • Tuka Loomma
06/04 • Sarah Sousa (10 of 10)
06/08 • T.L. Sherwood
06/10 • Kathleen McGookey
06/11 • Serge Lecomte (1 of 8)
06/15 • Brianna Neumann
06/17 • Kate Carmody
06/18 • Serge Lecomte (2 of 8)
06/22 • Wilson Koewing
06/24 • Mason Binkley
06/25 • Serge Lecomte (3 of 8)
06/29 • Yanna Regina Mondoñedo
07/01 • Peter Krumbach
07/02 • Serge Lecomte (4 of 8)
07/06 • Vanessa Gebbie
07/08 • Paul Hostovsky
07/09 • Serge Lecomte (5 of 8)
07/13 • Clio Velentza
07/15 • Jolene McIlwain
07/16 • Serge Lecomte (6 of 8)
07/20 • Julie Benesh
07/22 • Beverly Jackson
07/23 • Serge Lecomte (7 of 8)
07/27 • Lynn Wagner
07/29 • Delaney Burk
07/30 • Serge Lecomte (8 of 8)
08/03 • TBD
08/06 • Amy Bobeda (1 of 6)
08/10 • TBD
08/13 • Amy Bobeda (2 of 6)
08/17 • TBD
08/20 • Amy Bobeda (3 of 6)
08/24 • TBD
08/27 • Amy Bobeda (4 of 6)
08/31 • TBD
09/03 • Amy Bobeda (5 of 6)
09/07 • TBD
09/10 • Amy Bobeda (6 of 6)
09/14 • TBD
09/17 • Erika Kanda (1 of 3)
09/21 • TBD
09/24 • Erika Kanda (2 of 3)
09/28 • TBD
10/01 • Erika Kanda (3 of 3)