Joseph Powell

Of Glass Roses

fragile
we all are
like
figurines in a
glass menagerie

like
blue roses
‘I’m sorry’
pleurosis

like
shy sisters
and
aspiring poets

like
absent fathers
and
spirited mothers

like
gentlemen callers
who may or
may not be
gentle men

like
candles
that flicker only
for so long
before they
have to be
blown out.

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Joseph Powell is a writer and spoken word artist and the author of four collections of poetry including The Spirit Of Baldwin Compels Me. His poems have been featured in vox poetica, WORDPEACE, Marble Hand, Wilderness House Literary Review, The Blue Mountain Review, Trouvaille Review, the Santa Clara Review, The Freedom Papers, 2020: The Year That Changed AmericaSkin, and has performed around the country. He lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Cindi and dog, Hendrix.