I got an amazing surprise last night! My dark little poem, “Stiff Trigger” has been nominated, by editors Kendall and Christina Bell from Chantarelle’s Notebook, for Best of the Net! This is a huge honor and I am so grateful.
Stiff Trigger
If I used a razor, I would warm the blade,
delighting in the comfort of tepid steel,
and watch life pool in crevices on the floor.
If I took pills, I’d lay them across my palm,
sacrament for a wanting tongue,
penance doused in bitterness,
tugging on my eyelids with welcome force.
If I used a gun, it would be an antique,
with gilded barrels and a stiff trigger,
a relic of ravaged lives held gently to my lips.
*first published in Chantarelle’s Notebook
October 1, 2018 at 10:29 am
yay! this is wonderful news! (and work, scary dark, but wonderful)
October 1, 2018 at 10:35 am
Thank you so much, Beautiful!!!! It was a wonderful and wholly unexpected surprise!
October 1, 2018 at 10:41 am
Congratulations–it’s an amazing piece–the use of contrast in that last line is truly haunting!
October 1, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Thank you so much, Suzanne!
October 1, 2018 at 11:02 am
Congratulations Susan. Very dark haunting and magnificent piece.
October 1, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Thank you, BB! Love you!
October 1, 2018 at 11:04 am
Great work!
October 1, 2018 at 3:04 pm
Thank you, so much!!!!!
October 1, 2018 at 5:32 pm
You are welcome.
October 1, 2018 at 11:43 am
Congratulations to my wonderful wife!
October 1, 2018 at 3:04 pm
Thank you my love!!!
October 1, 2018 at 11:52 am
Bravo 👏🏻
October 1, 2018 at 3:05 pm
Thank you, Beautiful!!!!
October 1, 2018 at 12:45 pm
Congratulations, Susan. So well deserved.
October 1, 2018 at 3:06 pm
Thank you, Sweet Wulf!!!! It was a huge surprise!
October 1, 2018 at 3:08 pm
I am so happy for you.
October 1, 2018 at 4:44 pm
Many congratulations, Susan. Such great work deserves such recognition.
October 2, 2018 at 8:12 am
Thank you so much, Steve! I hope your travels are treating you well!
October 1, 2018 at 6:03 pm
Congratulations. A beautiful poem. Sad and alluring as one can see the decisions/choices that must be made. 🙂
October 2, 2018 at 8:13 am
Thank you, so much Jay Iyn!
October 2, 2018 at 8:13 am
You’re welcome. 😊
October 1, 2018 at 6:25 pm
Congratulations Susan , beautiful piece. Love the darkness and sorrow , it’s almost real and so descriptive I can imagine being there .
October 2, 2018 at 8:13 am
Oh, Sweet Jean! Thank you! Miss you!
October 1, 2018 at 7:41 pm
So well done Susan, and so well deserved!!
October 2, 2018 at 8:14 am
Thank you so much, Bill! It was a pretty massive shock, honestly.
October 2, 2018 at 9:17 am
Very nicely done… congratulations!
October 1, 2018 at 9:12 pm
I first read ‘If I used a razor, I would warN the blade.’
Sharp, as the blade. Great news.
October 2, 2018 at 8:17 am
Oh my god, this is so interesting. The juxtaposition of these 2 words is so telling, I think, of who we are. I love hearing even morsels of your personal interpretations of what I write. Thank you!!!
October 2, 2018 at 9:36 am
I found it interesting too. Blades, beware, I’m sharper than you!
Bite by bite, you’ll get the whole of me.
Welcome.
October 2, 2018 at 11:36 am
Spectacular poem, Susan. Congratulations.
October 2, 2018 at 11:40 am
Thank you, Robert! It is an honor to be in such good company!!!!
October 2, 2018 at 11:47 am
I was thinking the same thing!
October 3, 2018 at 7:08 am
Beautiful piece, and worthy of the nomination. Congrats, sister!
October 3, 2018 at 7:12 am
Thank you, Sweet Tom!!!!! It was a shock, but a pretty nice one!!!
October 10, 2018 at 12:26 pm
That is great news. Really happy for you.
October 10, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Thank you so much, Bryan!!!
October 11, 2018 at 9:31 pm
You’re welcome. Good Stuff!!!
October 12, 2018 at 4:07 pm
First, Congratulations! I am so proud of and happy for you! Second, Damn! This is a powerful, powerful poem Susan! Bravo!!
October 12, 2018 at 4:12 pm
Walt, you are wonderful!!! Thank you so much!!!
October 12, 2018 at 4:14 pm
No! You Are! OK, wait. We both are! And youare so very welcome! 🙂