Penance
by Jeanie Greensfelder
I’m at the post office,
mistake in hand:
wrong magnesium,
carelessly ordered.
In Mexico, a woman
crawled up
cathedral steps
for her misdeeds.
In Pismo, a man
with a sign Sinner
on his back, traversed
the beach on all fours.
They sought mercy.
I seek to quiet a brain
that won’t shut up.
I add a little prayer.
Jeanie Greenfelder’s poems have been published at American Life in Poetry, and Writers’ Almanac; in anthologies: Paris, Etc., Pushing the Envelope: Epistolary Poems; and in journals: Miramar, Thema, Askew, Persimmon Tree, and others. The San Luis Obispo County poet laureate, 2017,18, Jeanie’s books are: Biting the Apple, Marriage and Other Leaps of Faith and I Got What I Came For.
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What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “Penance”? On the post office steps, I felt like the woman in Mexico, the man on the beach. My mind insisted I atone for this mistake even though postage to return the item was more than its cost!! We are such interesting creatures.
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
05/04 • Leath Tonino
05/11 • Chris Pellizzari
05/18 • Chris Clemens
05/25 • Clayton Eccard
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