By Ashley Cline
you howl—
& split my lip like watermelons / left on the neon vine,
fat & summer-drunk off / plutonium & moonshine
you howl—
& bite my neck like collecting / August rain between your teeth,
head back: you are cursive monsoons crashing / mouth open:
you are pomegranate / verbs tracing new
languages on my beach
you howl—
& grab my mouth by its growing season / half-life
carbon ripe & eager / i am learning
how to say / love me love me love me
in costal salt & curry lavender
you howl—
& bury my fingers beneath / the river
where summer comes to / quench her thirst
you: my feral hurricane / you: my
grinning Chernobyl wolf
you howl—
& god / how even the moon
bends.
An avid introvert and full-time carbon-based life-form, Ashley Cline crash landed in south Jersey and still calls that strange land home. Most often found listening to Carly Rae Jepsen, her essays on music and feelings have been published by Sound Bites Media; her poetry has appeared in 404 Ink and is forthcoming in Francis House. She graduated from Rowan University in 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, and her best at all-you-can-eat sushi is 5 rolls in 11 minutes.
Art by Michelle Johnsen, art editor
Michelle Johnsen is a nature and portrait photographer in Lancaster, PA, as well as an amateur herbalist and naturalist. Her work has been featured by It’s Modern Art, Susquehanna Style magazine, Permaculture Activist magazine, EcoWatch.com, EarthFirst! Journal, Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, and used as album art for Grandma Shake!, Anna & Elizabeth, and Liz Fulmer Music. Michelle’s photos have also been stolen by AP, weather.com, The Daily Mail, and Lancaster Newspapers. You can contact her at mjphoto717 [at] gmail.com.