Publication Announcements/Poems

Poem Live at Rat’s Ass Review!

/ stephanielharper / 12 Comments

Two watermelon carvings, mirrored images, side-by-side, hollowed as "monster mouth" baskets filled with fruit and concerned-looking eyes made of pineapple chunks and blueberries... Representative of large, middle-aged boobs.

My poem, “Of These One and All (after Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself 15),” is now live in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of Rat’s Ass Review! Poems appear in the order of their poets’ last names; please enjoy some terrific writing as you scroll to, and beyond, Harper :D).

As a long-time admirer of (as well as previous contributor to) this top-notch web-journal, I’m truly grateful to editor Roderick Bates for his passion and integrity in steadfastly promoting poets and the poetry community, and especially for selecting my little ditty for publication in this fantastic issue!

Two Poems Published in The Iowa Review!

/ stephanielharper / 15 Comments

Yes, my friends, this is a thing that’s happening IRL!

Please join me in expressing my heartfelt thanks to The Iowa Review editors Lynne Nugent and Jen Frantz for selecting my poems, “Pelvic Organ Prolapse” (photo included below) and “The Shape of Unsayable,” for publication in TIR’s issue 54.1 (spring 2024). I’ll post an update when the link to order copies of this issue is available.

Poem Live at Panoply

/ stephanielharper / 7 Comments

Another In-titled Poem has found its perfect home in cyberspace! Thanks to lovely editors Andrea, Clara, and Jeff of Panoply, my poem, “Writer’s Block is a Bitch,” which also happens to be a Petrarchan sonnet (because I’m just like that…), is now published in issue 27. I’m especially proud and pleased that my poem appears alongside my husband, Robert Okaji’s awesome excursion into feline metaphysics, and a host of other luminous poetry and short prose.

Two Poems in Salamander Magazine!

/ stephanielharper / 5 Comments

I’m honored and excited to share the news that my poems, “Neurodivergent” (see below) and “Presentiment (*cento),” appear in the gorgeous literary review published out of Suffolk University, Salamander Magazine #57, Fall / Winter 2023-2024. Please do visit the link provided for information on accessing individual copies of the issue and/or becoming an online or print version subscriber. 

I’d like to express my heartfelt appreciation to EIC Dr. José Angel Araguz for selecting my poems for inclusion in this luminous issue, and for facilitating an all-around rewarding publishing experience!

Poems Live at Samjoko Magazine!

/ stephanielharper / 14 Comments

I’m pleased and proud to share that three of my poems—“Spotted Orb Weaver,” “Sestina for a Queen: Northern Cardinal,” and “Requiem”—have been published in the Winter III issue of Samjoko Magazine, a beautiful online literary journal based in South Korea. I’m grateful to Todd Sullivan and the Samjoko poetry editors for selecting my work. 

Please view on a full/computer screen, if possible. Thanks so much for reading!

Poem Live in Taos Journal of Poetry!

/ stephanielharper / 16 Comments

I’d like to express my gratitude to poet-, editor-, and human-extraordinaire Catherine Strisik for including my poem, “Message in a Bottle to Arthur Sze,” in the gorgeous new issue (issue 13) of Taos Journal of Poetry. I’m thrilled for this chance to share my poem with you, and deeply honored that it now resides amongst such gloriously earnest, inspired company…

Poem Live in Parcham Magazine

/ stephanielharper / 18 Comments

I’m always glad for the chance to publish (and thereby share 😊) another love poem inspired by my one and only, Robert Okaji! So, I’m grateful to the poetry editing team, assisted by Candice Daquin, of Parcham Magazine based in Kolkata, India, for including “Letter from the Other Side of Silence” in their August 2023 issue, which was just released on October 12.

Poem Published in Caesura!

/ stephanielharper / 18 Comments

The 2023 issue of Caesura: objects in the mirror is a print publication of Poetry Center San Jose.

Thank you all for reading!  

The Hole

twinge
above your right brow

in a mirror     that dusky spot

the hole
acute     scalene     deep
about an inch in height
just above your right eyeball
loosened from its socket
oozing blood
from cracks around your lids

a clear view
to the back of your skull—
the bone is floodlit like a surgical theater

accentuating the osseous fabric’s
orderly interweaving of dark
green lettuce leaves
with your head’s sealed fissures

it makes no sense
but to accept it—

your neighbor     who constantly drops by
unannounced     needs you     again
to watch her kids tomorrow afternoon
“for just a few hours”

sure     not a problem

she’ll be inviting you to her wedding this summer
“third time’s the charm”

how nice

a flash
on the porcelain screen
(where your brain should be)
previews the upcoming afternoon—

gazebo with picnic tables
at the breezy confluence
of the Columbia & Willamette rivers

 daylight encasing you in the naked
mole-rat’s skin you’d mistaken
for a modest-pink sundress

siphoning the cash bar’s cut-rate Riesling
as you try to make small-talk without thinking

about the cool tingle of exposed bone
above your right brow
flora     slick in plasma     creeping out— 

which puts extra strain on the wobbly eyeball…

STEPHANIE L. HARPER