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Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com.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.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

NOT OBLIGED

by Michelle Marie




with hell to pay
   there was a rallying bray
i am charlie of hebdo !
   precious defiant minstrel show !

spirit grew robust
   wings light pen impaled
rose with a gust
   on which liberté sailed

but grief is a moment
   in that series to say
of violence that went
   the other ruthless way: 

algérie, irak, syrie

a flood of violence
   silting the hills with righteous license

imagination of power
   who fits in a world always ours more
lives drawn'n ink sour
   by martyrs right to offend, therefore

not obliged am i
   to repeat the offender's cry


Michelle Marie has written for Infita7 and Bluestockings Magazine.