Guidelines



Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

DOLL PEDDLER

by Marcelle Kasprowicz


Which one do you want
I guarantee you will not find
a better assortment anywhere

The white crusader on the red horse
is obsolete
but still very popular
It also comes
as a black-garbed masked warrior
with curved sword
or belt of plastic
strapped around his waist
I have an overstock
in that line

On special today
I have this mud spattered trench doll
slumped over barbed wire
It used to be sold as
“Warrior to end all wars”

You're looking at the one
dearest to my heart
The one with the steel pot
and the parachute
It comes with its own landing craft
chocolate bars and chewing gum
Another option on this one
is a model of the Enola Gay

If you cannot find one you like
they're making new ones everyday
I have several on order
from this catalog
Look
this one comes with its jury-rigged armored MV
A nice touch
Don't you think

And then you have the grab-bag
with quite a nice selection
tribal warriors with spears or machetes
genocidal militia...


Marcelle Kasprowicz was born in Niort, France. She received an M.A. from UT at Austin. She is an Austin resident. She writes in English and French and also translates her French poems in English. In 2001 she was awarded first prize for her poem "House of Bones" in the Austin International Poetry Festival Anthology. She had her poems published in Ascent Aspiration, Farfelu, The Texas Poetry Calendar, Languageandculture.net (on line). She is the author of Organza Skies, a book of poems about the Davis Mountains of West Texas, published in 2005.