Distant Planets Close to Home
No night
or day
locked orbit
scorching side
freezing side
super Earth
mini Neptune
evaporating water
frozen wasteland
small planet
dense atmosphere
not crushing
superdense atmosphere
distant planets
distant you
habitable zone
habitable nights
extraterrestrial extremophiles
catching existence
considering life
with you
I don’t
stand a
chance.
Official Art
Mod podge
there’s something
to be said for paper mache’
cut outs
painted like snowmen or letters
glue that shoots glitter
not glue
laminate
and glitter
and spray paint glitter
for turning
a pine cone
a nacho tray
into sparkling decorations
even for
those of us
uneducated in the art of
crafts.
Modern Context
If someone asks
what I do
for a living
I’m going to say
Troubadour
I can write
lyric poetry too
and free verse
I’m singing folk songs
shining poetry knight
singing songs about
gallant knights, damsels
making chivalry high art
composing for dragons
Rainer Maria Rilke
Middle Age song-meisters
making me a poet-musician.
Paint Poem
Orange
against gray sky
makes it brighter, wilder
Red
added to green
makes it appear brighter
Yellow
mixed with purple
makes both colors bold
Blue
as a background
it usually never fades
Black
you can have
any color you want
White
while it fades
you can’t see it
Painting
until eyes bleed
until eyes go blind
Alive
is somewhat like
coming to life twice.
LB Sedlacek’s latest poetry books are “The Blue Eyed Side” (Cyberwit), “The Poet Next Door” (Cyberwit), “The Architect of French Fries” (Presa Press), and “Words and Bones” (Finishing Line Press.) Her first short story collection, “Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories” was published in February 2020 by Alien Buddha Press. LB’s poems have appeared in numerous journals and zines such as “The Hill Rag,” “Harbinger Asylum” “Pure Francis,” “The Broad River Review” and others. She co-hosted the podcast for the small press, “Coffee House to Go,” published the free resource for poets, “The Poetry Market Ezine,” for 20 years and was Poetry Editor for “ESC! Magazine.” LB is also a PT Lifeguard, swimmer, reader, and wanna be ukulele player.