by Lauren Silex
Glassed by Reminisce
Memories lay ambush in
the dark valley of my mouth,
a storm guides names of
ex-lovers out of my throat,
they taste like birds from Mars
shards blistering like
an inferno.
A weeping bird
is a cloud in animate form
A hollow
drowsiness of repetition
clobber the
claws of a gazelle. I plunge
my firmness behind
this fiery shush of introspection
– a wind weeping behind
a garden of memories.
a synagogue of suns
my body carries a lot of lights,
soiled out dark & lifeless in
a salvation of fleeting shadows
nights carry birds
&
my mind is a sky
each one,
a belly button of my former lover,
a boy’s mouth losing speech to
a cavort of silence.
I, candled this night turn my body
into
ashes glassed by reminisce.
Odukoya Adeniyi is an undergraduate studying English and Education at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming on Roadrunner Review, Kalahari Review, Praxis magazine, Agbowo.org.
Baltimore artist Lauren Silex comes from generations of creative family. A concern for the environment in 2008 finally led her to cut paper collage and the use of recycled materials in her artwork. She uses storytelling to illustrate how the natural world interacts with and is affected by civilization. After applying acrylic paint to a wood substrate, Silex meticulously cuts and glues hundreds of pieces of paper from old magazine pages, atlas pages and coffee table books, etc. The piece is then embellished with detailing in ink and oil pastel. The result is multilayered and rich with meaning. Silex graduated from Prince George’s Community College and the Maryland College of Art and Design. She has had solo shows in Los Angeles and Baltimore, and her work is in several private collections around the country. Published on the covers of the Free State Review, The Mighty Line, and forthcoming issues of Palooka and Gone Lawn literary journals, her collages have also been awarded Best in Show and People’s Choice in 2019.