March 19, 2023
Almost
digital photo-poem
by Alan Bern
Dreaded Sidewalks
by Monica Viera
The grey sidewalk I walk on
Is like many sidewalks before
No destination
Pure journey in a sea of grey
Along houses in suburbia that all look the same
The self-indulgent detour
Quickly becomes fraught with self-loathing
Coupled with a hanging head
The walk for the sake of a walk
Pulls at all the nihilistic strings in the world
All sidewalks coming together
And suddenly at the intersection
I’m screaming
Choking on grey
Someone calls an ambulance
I’m escorted out of mediocrity
Back into an extreme I find solace in
While I stare out the window of the ambulance
Waving goodbye
___
Monica Viera
Monica Viera is a neurodivergent Hispanic author from East LA.
Alan Bern
Retired children’s librarian Alan Bern is a poet and storywriter with three books of poetry and is a published/exhibited photographer. Alan is cofounder with artist/printer Robert Woods of the fine press Lines & Faces, linesandfaces.com. IN THE PACE OF THE PATH is Alan’s first full-length hybrid of poetry, prose, and photos. Recent awards include: Winner, Saw Palm Poetry Contest (2022); Flash Fiction Finalist, Ekphrastic Sex (2021); and Winner, Littoral Press Poetry Prize (2015). Recent and upcoming writing and photo work in: Haunted Waters Press, Feral, DarkWinter Literary Magazine, The Hyacinth Review, and swifts & slows: a quarterly of crosscrossings.