Mike Maggio

Alternate Crocuses By The Road

Purple pointed crocuses shoot up through grass,
The ground’s heart warms in the sun as cold nights pass.
Spring peaks its head above the green like a flirt,
Purple periscope looking above the dirt,
No snow, no frost, no fire, it’s time for desire. 
Magically calling cold night a liar.
The corm, the heart underground is still alive
Eternal passions through winter do survive.
New each year, once again, as it did before,
As when they open and hold emotion’s eye,
Their petals find the embrace of the spring sky.


Copyright 2022 Dennis Price

Bio:

Dennis Price was convicted of lack of punctuation and spelling larceny and currently resides in Dyslexia Prison with his wife, daughter, son and 2 cats.

30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review

I Do(e)

The Dressing Room (south) welcomes our brides: Trilby, 
Carly, Angie, Cher, arrows pierce chalkboard hearts—
the shop’s logo a rack of antlers, warning
betrothed that soon their veils will turn and bristle 
twisted crown of points, velvet fur rubbed empty 
after the rut, the hunt, disembodied fawn.
Remember how to field dress a deer? Skinned, stripped 
humped to truck, gun rack full, mounted on the wall  
hard-won prize, fur dew-damp, taken at dawn, dream
they’ll wake as hunters, smell blood on sheets, aim vows
frozen in headlights pointing the dark way home.

Copyright 2022, Kindra McDonald

Bio:

Kindra McDonald is the author of the collections Fossils and In the Meat Years and the forthcoming collection Teaching a Wild Thing. She was the recipient of the 2020 Haunted Waters Press Poetry Award. She received her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and is an Adjunct Professor of Writing and Teaching Artist at The Muse Writers Center. She served as the Poetry Society of Virginia Southeastern region Vice President from 2019-2022. You can find her in the woods or at www.kindramcdonald.com

30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review

Moon over the City


The large window, a mirror to the night sky,
reflects the moon, almost absorbs the ample,
perfect pearl as if it’s rising inside glass.

This vitreous facade on the bustling street
has harnessed the rays of the suspended orb,
catching the glad glances of men and women.

Birds cresting trees chirp louder, tides stretch farther
ashore. A kind of grace cradles the city.

Pleased with its reach, the full moon shines high above,
sings lush melodies about waxing, waning,
the solitary urban world, loss and joy.


Copyright 2022 by Zeina Azzam.

Bio:

Zeina Azzam is a Palestinian American poet, writer, editor, and community activist. Her chapbook, Bayna Bayna, In-Between, was published in 2021 by The Poetry Box.

30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review

Writers’ Retreat off Inspiration Lane
	
	Apologies to John Lennon and “Lucy”

Picture some writers in boats on a vast lake,
the waves have gone gentle, the water like glass.
Then there before them, the sun’s close to setting:
a darkness descends before they can reach shore.
There’s a longing inside them that is urging
them to rise up and make their boats wobble and
turn upside down. Where is she or where is he,
the joy they have been calling? The black night’s turned
silent and still there’re no names. But suddenly
before them, a bright thing is swimming, leading
them onward—the moon and its shimmering hair.

Copyright 2022 by Lyman Grant

Bio:

Lyman Grant lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review

Yes, 9 years. And I have poets, far and wide, to thank for making this not just an annual tradition but a successful one as well.

30 for 30 started with a small cadre of poets – 30, to be exact. Over the years, that number has grown, though I don’t have an exact count of just how many have graced this web site with their verse. However, I can say with confidence that, from a local event that started with poets from the Washington DC area, it has grown into a national and, yes, an international happening. Over the years, we’ve had poets from all over the United States and from countries as far and diverse as Pakistan, New Zealand, France and Canada. And each year, the poets have been kind enough to tackle the themes and/or challenges I presented.

This year’s challenge included both a theme and a challenge. The theme: “Love on Imaginary Boulevard.” The challenge: write a poem that is exactly 11 lines in length and in which each line is exactly 11 syllables. And 30 poets took up the challenge.

Could I have asked for more?  Well, perhaps a few more days added to April, for I had to turn away a number of poets this year, including some of our alumni, because I had already reached the 30 day limit.

I am fortunate, also, in that Potomac Review has, for the past couple of years, agreed to sponsor 30 for 3o. That has allowed us from going to what was becoming a popularity contest to having a judge and a prize for the winner: a one year subscription to that venerable publication out of Montgomery College. And the judges, including this year’s David Anthony Sam, have donated their time for a paltry reward. So my thanks go out to them and to Potomac Review.

So, on this eve of National Poetry Month, as they say: let the poems begin.

I hope you enjoy this year’s entries. Please acknowledge the poets by leaving a comment on their work.

30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review