Ephemera Newsletter Iss Jan.4

(Creativity and Motivation Weekly)

Welcome to the Ephemera Newsletter, Barátok! (Hungarian for “friends”)

Our final issue of January (yet appearing at the beginning of Feb), where we lead off again with a poem from Sam Stokley. You can see more about Sam at his dedicated post on our substack page. We thank you for checking out Sam’s work.

Poetry by Sam Stokley

Bloodstream

The other side of the moon is bleeding. Up
north fall bleeds through the edges
of summer and we await the salmon fly hatch
while families are met at purple midnight
with rap rap rap and steely screams. We bled
what we wanted but a vacuum is too useful
to leave behind so we unload fracturing.
What kind of fish did you catch? It’s personal.
I lied about the moon, up there blood
is tears, like how toilets flush the other way
down under. Everywhere is the middle
of a universe infinitely expanding. Some echoes
are a Tyson uppercut. The Mariana trench isn’t
a tourist pull like the Grand Canyon. Bigfoot is
enlightened and society changed when Dave
from Wendy’s dipped his fry into the big frosty sky.
For Halloween one year the White House gave
out chili-flavored fingers. Send us your tired,
your poor, your ten year olds to run
the drive-thru window at Burger King.
Kudzu is sought for its instagrammability,
if you ever leave the vines they lurch
towards your heart, glug glug rhythmic blood
pumping a gentle request for suffocation. My body began
decomposition before I burst out, my heart is still
heaving to keep me breathing, one morning I’ll wake
and leave my feet behind rotted off and dried, stuck
to the sheets. Gimme wheels and freely flipping
birds, rolling by the Spirit Halloween precincts
when we no longer pay for our bullies. A mayor comes
out of hiding to collect reelection money but his shadow
always follows, announcing two more years of cowardice.
Purple pockets crater opposability, time leaves
just fists. These luxury apartments on Dakota land
are progressive, home to our mayor’s biggest
supporters and everyone first on the menu. I’m in
the middle of my beloved villain storyline.
Skin is our biggest organ and I’ve got big organ
failure, the biggest.

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And here are some reminders:

• Our poet for February is Ashley Williamson! We’ll have her info and more ephemera in our Feb.1 issue coming soon.

• Call For Submissions: Poetry at Ephemera. Extended Deadline is Feb 5 for March. If you are a paid subscriber to Ephemera, you can submit to poetry @ Ephemera for free as a membership perk! (We email you a secret link at the end of the month). Free subscribers and anyone else can submit, too, with the reading fee and can submit up to 10 poems. Paying the reading fee will grant you 1-month paid access to Ephemera’s full letter. Learn more or:

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In Brief…this week’s features:

• Thoughts on Stevie Wonder and his rendition of “Light My Fire.”

• Thoughts on M.C. Echer and his famous illusionist wood-cuts.

• January’s poet, Sam Stokley and his fourth of four poems, “Bloodstream”

• Our weekly lists:

  • 3 magazines with open calls

  • 3 awards/prizes

  • 3 recent job listings for editors and writers.

• **No sponsor this issue: Sponsor our letter! Reach out to info@Litbreaker.com to advertise with us.**

• More ephemera: check out an Interesante selection, the start of a new ongoing series about indoor plants; Book Recs, bonus content, and our mini-essays to start!

• Support us and brick and mortar bookstores on Bookshop - See our past book recs and favorites. A highly curated list.

• In case you missed it, last week’s issue.

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Merci. Danke. Kiitos. 고마워 Go-ma-wo. Cảm ơn. Xiè xiè.

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Ephemera

Dear Readers,

Writers can instantly relate to Stevie Wonder’s quote below, a sentiment that would have been echoed by this week’s artist selection, M.C. Escher, as well…,