by Tony Schanuel
Love Poem with Little Fangs Concealed
My father, ventriloquizing
his dog, squeaks, I love you because
we play together. I have never
heard a more suitable distillate
of love than this, perhaps.
On the subject of time
management, I say to my husband,
What will optimize kissing? This
is my singular organizing principle.
He knits his brow. He nods.
I murmur to the city that sparkles
like cellophane—the one I slip into
like paper doll clothes—Could you please
be a slightly more inspiring setting? I’m trying
to get my infinity on.
In the train glass, reflections shiver
and shimmer, and I wish for the night
to come alchemize me. The hairline of
God is thin as he whispers, My God,
you look ravishing dressed in fantasy.
Catherine Broadwall (she/her) is the author of Water Spell (Cornerstone Press, forthcoming 2025), Fulgurite (Cornerstone Press, 2023), Shelter in Place (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019), and other collections. Her writing has appeared in Bellingham Review, Colorado Review, Mid-American Review, and other journals. She was the winner of the 2023 Paula Svonkin Creative Arts Award and the 2020 COG Poetry Award, as well as a finalist for the poetry categories of the 2021 Mississippi Review Prize and 2021 Pinch Literary Awards. She is an assistant professor at DigiPen Institute of Technology, where she teaches creative writing and literature. Her website is www.catherinebroadwall.com. Instagram: @catherine.broadwall Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catherine.broadwall/
Tony Schanuel is an award-winning photographer and visual artist who has fused a professional background in photography, digital technology, and painting and mark making to create fine art that transcends those mediums. His work has been featured in Digital Imaging Magazine, Computer Graphic Magazine, Wild Heart Journal, St. Louis Design Magazine, and is a featured artist in Cyber Palette and Extreme Graphics, two books showcasing digital artists and their work. He has exhibited at the Florence Biennale and his art is held in private and corporate collections including the Fine Arts Museum of Houston permanent photographic collection. http://www.schanuelphoto.com/.