Photography © Jennifer Matthews
Tending
When rose petals falter,
the end arrives.
She snips dead heads
into a shriveled pile
and shears stems
into six-inch lengths.
Stacked at the edge
of our shriveling garden,
a piles of thorns
reminds us of what
once was beauty,
and now lies in a
puzzle at my feet
to be unraveled.
Richard Dinges, Jr. works on his homestead beside a pond, surrounded by trees and grassland, with his wife, two dogs, two cats, and eighteen chickens. Blue Lake Review, Wilderness House, WINK, Alembic, and Steam Ticket most recently accepted his words for their publications.
Poet/Photographer Jennifer Matthews’ poetry has been published in Nepal by Pen Himalaya and locally by the Wilderness Retreat Writers Organization, Midway Journal, The Somerville Times, Ibbetson Street Press and Boston Girl Guide. Jennifer was nominated for a poetry award by the Cambridge Arts Council for her book of poetry Fairy Tales and Misdemeanors. Her songs have been released nationally and internationally and her photography has been used as covers for a number of Ibbetson Street Press poetry books and has been exhibited at The Middle East Restaurant, 1369 Coffeehouses, Sound Bites Restaurant in Somerville and McLean Hospital.