Alexis-Rueal
May 29
7 p.m.
Alexis-Rueal is a Columbus, Ohio poet whose work has been featured in online and print journals such as Drunk in a Midnight Choir, The Wild Word, The London Reader, The New Verse News, among many others. She enjoys featuring in festivals and venues throughout Ohio and Kentucky, and was a member of the 2016-17 season of The Women of Appalachia Project’s “Women Speak.” She is the author of three chapbooks--Letter to 20, According to the Results, and Fully Formed—while her first full-length book, I Speak Hick, was published by Writing Knights Press in 2016.
You can find her at alexisrueal.com and on twitter @Alexis_Rueal. Word of Mouth Cincinnati, which began in January 2014, is co-hosted by fellow writers Jim Palmarini and Mark Flanigan. It was founded in memory of the late Aralee Strange who, after many years living, writing and producing work in the Cincinnati area, moved to Athens, Georgia where she co-founded Athens Word of Mouth. WoMC is an intentional arc of both past and future utterance, inspired by our most revered voice, with a nod to her Athens, GA compatriots. Word of Mouth asks poets to Show Up, Mouth Off and Pay Attention. Admission to Word of Mouth Cincinnati is free and open to all ages, although some content may contain adult themes and language. MOTR Pub 1345 Main Street Cincinnati, OH 45202. |
Agnostic in Winter
February is a dark heresy. Bare branch alters and dull shell-gray cathedral sky. Everything so hard and tired and I wonder if we will ever know green again. I chew on prayer seeds, hoping they taste of tree bud and April. I wonder if this is what it is to search for God. * * * Debris of Me Leave me in Pieces Today For I am Not Ready To be made whole Nothing fits I don’t want to Fit Leave me in t a t t e r s and clumps Leave me strewn Darkness wide Let me rest Let me rest Let me rest unhinged Unhindered Leave me Leave me Leave me Sweet debris of me Leave me unfixed And loving the storm That brought me here |