by Sally Jane Brown
Two Thoughts about Beauty
During the first of several sleepless nights
you said to consider how the periodic table
came to Mendeleev in a dream. Imagine,
waking to find every speck of the universe coordinated
in perfect stacks, organized like how your sock drawer
could be, if you really put your mind to it.
But I could not sleep and so
the night followed me everywhere. Stars in my coffee.
Half moon stain on my shirt. Meteor showers
somewhere behind all the clouds.
Later, I didn’t tell you about
my crush on the mandolin player we saw on the Opry.
I didn’t tell you because I am always
trying to avoid cliche but in this case
dreamy is about right. As for her playing,
you spouted off a list of synonyms for hot, which,
I didn’t tell you, could also be applied to her.
Christopher Barry is a teacher in New Hampshire. His work has been published or will appear in Rising Phoenix Review, Porcupine Literary, Northern New England review, as well as several other magazines and journals. He is not good at social media, but you can find him on Blue Sky @cdbarry100, and on Instagram @mrbarrywrites.
Sally Jane Brown is an artist, curator and writer currently based in Morgantown. Her artwork includes drawing, painting and performance explores womanhood, motherhood and the body. She has exhibited her work in spaces nationally and in the UK. She has won two awards for illustration for Intimates and Fools and Leaves of Absence, both with poetry by Laura Madeline Wiseman. She has participated in artist residencies in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Buenos Aires. Her writing has been published in Hyperallergic, Women’s Art Journal and Artslant, among others. She has curated group shows in Omaha, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Morgantown. She has been awarded several grants for her artistic and scholarly work and presented at multiple national arts conferences. She holds a Bachelor of Arts-Studio Art, a Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts- Art History and Feminist Theory. She is a former member of the College Art Association National Committee on Women in the Arts, edited the online journal Les Femmes Folles, and currently serves as Curator for West Virginia University Libraries, Contributing Writer for the Borshch of Art Discover Database, and art editor for Thimble Literary Magazine. IG @sallery_art FB @salleryart TW @sallery_art
YouTube @Sallery_Art.