Poem by Nettie Farris

Hard Boiled Like Harry Bosch

Hot Mess. That’s what’s written on my new apron.
Today is my hot mess day. My sister Randi says that. It’s
her best expression. She’s a hot mess, on many
occasions. I want to be a hot mess too, but I’m too
introverted. Too soft. Naive. All my favorite men
drink their coffee black. I require sweetener and
cream, enough for that milk chocolate look. It’s the
color that calls to me, for I began drinking coffee on
my father’s knee. In a glass with milk. I’m thinking I
should be a bit more tough, now that I’m grown.
More worldly. I want to be hard boiled like Harry
Bosch. I’m working on my root chakra. I’ve been
polishing my toenails red. Practicing my warrior
poses. I’m roughing up my edges for when reality sets
in. I want to be a tarnished St. George like Philip
Marlowe. A small Joan of Arc.

Nettie Farris lives in Floyds Knobs, Indiana and is the author of Communion (Accents Publishing, 2013). In 2011 she received the Kudzu Poetry Prize. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her chapbook, Fat Crayons, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2015.

Richard Montgomery: “My philosophical surrealistic drawings are known for their unique twist on life and our perspective of it. The “hidden in plain sight” details of my work are ruminants of the great masters like M.C. Escher and Salvador Dali. I have been drawing my entire life and have had no formal training other than just my own desire to create from the time I could hold a crayon or pencil. I enjoy many different types of art yet surrealism holds my passion the most.”