Reader Submissions

During a blackout

by

Penelope Layland

I write this

by headlamp

which heightens drama,

pushes back dark

in white, depthless arcs

when I turn my head,

which means

I turn my head

more and more

write less and less,

watching instead

the indoor phosphor 

sky of my making

and hearing

the rubble

of air out there

hitting things,

hearing

the ostinato rain.

The poem

I was going to write,

which was about love,

coils and sleeps again.

During a blackout is the 2nd place winner (tied) of the 2020 Meniscus Poetry Award