NORTHERN LIGHTS

by Sally Mills

Content warning: misogynist slur

Thousands of public servants are living, working and, in the final weeks of election season, campaigning in a state of fear. And it’s getting worse... —The New York Times, October 11, 2026

Think about it: all those delicate lace men out
there, parking the loaner, salting
the eggs, pumping the gas, outrage compact as 

a rapist’s face inside a foot of pantyhose. When
will one of them decide to
strike the match?
I thought one might this time. I was
a county delegate. I did what a
county delegate is supposed to do: I
posted about it. I am a delegate. I am voting
for this one, and so should you. Later, 

his Facebook message landed: We’re coming
to get you,
cunt.
He was able to find me because 

we were both members of 

Maine Aurora Borealis Watch.

 

Nearly all of the time, I feel lucky. The way Charlie Kirk must 

have felt before heading off 

to that university that day, or Melissa Hortman before 

she answered her front door that day, or her husband, or
their dog. I don’t think about it. Except 

what is the neighbor’s dog barking
at? And those knots in the pine boards—are they

really knots? Or
peepholes or
target holes? Should I answer 

that phone?

They’re coming to get you,
cunt.

Sally Mills is a poet and attorney from Downeast Maine.  She holds an MPhil on the work of Anna Akhmatova.  Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in publications including The New Verse News, The Main Street Rag, Sheila-Na-Gig, Rat’s Ass Review, The Esthetic Apostle, Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, and The RavensPerch.  When not writing poetry or practicing law, Sally performs with The Damn, Girls!—Hancock County’s premier country-western girl band. 

THE TEDDY BEARS’ PICNIC

by Sally Mills

The New York Times, September 24, 2026

They were all there, the bears
that night. They came aware.
They came to stare.
They came that night 

for a black tie affair.

The smiling Formosan black bear in his black 

leather jacket.  Tattoo too.

chip chip chip

chum chum chum

It doesn’t get more American than 

a big old grizzly with his Apple pie! But will 

this guy share his shares?

hi hi hi

chomp chomp chomp

Why there’s the nasty honey badger bear 

who isn’t even really a bear 

because there are no bears in South Africa.

crazy crazy crazy

chop chop chop

The spectacled bear of the Amazon 

is generally considered to be the gentlest 

of bears, so why is this one hanging around 

this tough crowd?

sell out sell out sell out sell out

And that one there is not native 

to Hawaii, but he built a giant compound 

all to himself, all that land and sunshine for 

one little curly bear and his fluffy little family.

greedy greedy greedy

more more more

And the honored guests? Why the pandas, of course, 

Mean Mean and Wife Wife. Fresh off 

the plane.  Have they no

shame?  Flew from the zoo.  Caged

in a rage the uppity tuppity truthy tellers 

back home. 

bam boo bam boo

bam bam bam

 

And who is leading them all 

in song? The Great Rolly Pooh himself

and Scary Barbie, his absent wife.

AI apocalypse?! Nah! I’ve got 

a ballroom to show you!

me me me

me me me

me me me

cha cha cha

Now let’s dance!

Sally Mills is a poet and attorney from Downeast Maine.  She studied the Russian Silver Age poets and holds an MPhil on the work of Anna Akhmatova. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including The New Verse News, The Main Street Rag, Sheila-Na-Gig, Rat’s Ass Review, The Esthetic Apostle, and Mobius: The Journal of Social Change. When not writing poetry or practicing law, Sally performs with The Damn, Girls!—Hancock County’s premier country-western girl band. 

I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW

by Sally Mills

That if I ever need to be flown out

of Turkey, under threat of attack

by Iran in response to a war

that I started, I may hide

in an airport catering container

if that is what I need to do, but

what I will not do, I promise, is

leave you on the old Air Force One

as a decoy. That is the depth

of affection I have for you

and you can take that to the bank.

xoxo

Sally Mills is a poet and attorney from Downeast Maine.  She studied the Russian Silver Age poets and holds an MPhil on the works of Anna Akhmatova.  Her work has appeared in The New Verse News and is forthcoming in Rat’s Ass Review.  When not writing poetry or practicing law, Sally performs with The Damn, Girls! — Hancock County’s premier country-western girl band.

MY ISLAND

by Sally Mills

 

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's Indian Creek Island property with a curiously blue pool.

Ivanka and Jared live on an island.
Indian Creek Island.
It’s part of Miami.
Man-made.
Billionaire Bunker.
They gutted the home,
remodeled the neoclassical masterpiece
with a modern and lavish look.
Because Ivanka has impeccable taste.
They kept the double staircase,
but gave the rest—even the pool cabana out back —
a total makeover.
Ivanka hosted an event by the pool
for her friends:
an evening of reflection and mindfulness
led by her very own
transcendental meditation expert.
No wonder Ivanka is so serene.

Now they have another island—
Sazan Island
in Albania.
This one is private.
1400 hectares.
(What’s a hectare, exactly?)
Five miles of beachfront!
3,500 Soviet bunkers!
They discovered it while on
a friend’s boat.
They swam to it,
then hiked up a mountain,
barefoot.
They were captivated.
They developed the opportunity
to help realize its potential,
transform it.
With a lot of restraint and care.
It’s not even a business!
It’s more like a challenge.
A tangible manifestation of
how they want to live.

I would like to live on an island.
But you know, I wouldn’t transform it.
I would hole up in
one of the bunkers.
I would sit quietly with the
limestone cliffs,
the holm oak,
the flowering ash.
I would watch
the sun rise over the Adriatic.
I would leave the flamingos alone,
the sea turtles,
the eight species of bats,
the Balkan wall lizard.
Forty kinds of beetles.
I would give them the opportunity
to realize their potential.

 

AI gif created by Nightcafé Studio for The New Verse News.

Sally Mills is a poet based in Downeast Maine. She came to poetry through studying the Russian Silver Age poets. She has been writing poetry in private for most of her life.