Onion River Review 2022

Page 93

Birthplace Kai Hines An old man sitting With his back to the tree That holds up his spine While he struggles to breathe With his hands he can feel The softness of the moss That holds him safe in his spot He no longer panics as he cannot catch his breath The primal urge of panic has no place once fading is a certainty Yet he can still feel its flare in his chest Knowing, hopelessly, that it must still fight Knowing, desperately, that he will not survive the night Pushing it down, calmly, he’ll hope To see one last sunset in these branches he knows so well A good place to go, he thinks Almost a home, if there ever was one to have Again he’ll feel the softness of the moss Still so valiantly holding his spot And as the sun nears the ground And the evening birds become sparse and unfound His soul will begin to sink into that brave moss on the ground As the sun flames orange into the clouds He is thankful for his last breath With weathered eyes and battered hands he lets go Giving his last exhale to the branches and the sun And to the moss Who held him so gently.

d Onion River Review d 91


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Editor Bios

1min
pages 98-99

Deconstruction, Dan Johnson

0
page 94

Emily Dickinson as Markov Process, Clayton Cafiero

1min
pages 95-97

Night, Alyssa Bonaro

4min
pages 86-88

Magnolia Perfume, Kaylee Sayers

1min
page 91

Birthplace, Kai Hines

1min
page 93

Burdens Borne, Anonymous

0
page 84

My Rock, Laura Hardin

1min
page 71

Today, Lauren Best

0
page 82

Underlying, Emily Derrick

0
page 81

Shipping Skis, Buff Lindau

1min
page 60

A Consultation with the Hunter Constellation, Rosemary Marr

0
page 69

Praise All Redwall Beasts and Foebeasts, Buff Lindau

1min
pages 66-67

Hormone Therapy, Sophie Fenimore

0
page 58

Ice, Alyssa Bonaro

4min
pages 53-55

Penance Song, Cito DeNegre

0
page 31

Bedtime, Emily Schule

1min
page 47

May meant I’d marry my mischief with yours], Faith Morgan

0
page 26

Trying Season, Amy Watson

1min
page 15

LAMPS FOR SALE, Elizabeth Inness-Brown

5min
pages 20-22

Poems in Trieste, Allison Donahue

1min
pages 40-41

To Rumi, Love Shams, Sophie Fenimore

1min
pages 37-38

How Many Summers?, Jim Hefferon

0
page 14
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