WhimsicalPoet: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry, Issue 3

By Sara Altman, Shalom Galve Aranas, Ashleigh Cattermole and 25 more

A curated, international collection of new and eclectic poetry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sara Altman
• Release date: Jul 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201020750

Sara Altman

Sara Altman holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in psychology; is the creator of WhimsicalPoet, an online poetry resource; and is the editor and art director of the affiliated Journal of Contemporary Poetry. She has poems published in PoetryPotion, 34th Parallel Magazine, and in Willows Wept Review. When not writing and working on the website or journal, she can be found hiking the Hudson Valley with her pup, enjoying the home life with her wife and pets, or ripping up the pavement with her electric moped.

Book preview

Table of contents

Evie Groch

Jeremy Szuder

Judge Santiago Burdon

Kathryn V. Jacopi,

Lyle Duer

Scott Schulte

Michele Mekel

Bridget Magee

Jericho Hockett

Jericho Hockett

David Strange

David Strange

Nicola Powys

Shalom Aranas

Gary Percesepe

Alex Lopex

Ted Millar

Ted Millar

Bob Meszaros

John Grey

Ben Westlie

Yuan Changming

Philip Jay Marlin

Philip Jay Marlin

Meggie Royer

Kushal Poddar

Addily Dyer

Addily Dyer

Tara Dasso

Tara Dasso

Ashleigh Cattermole

Ashleigh Cattermole

Tim Kahl

George Freek

Contributers

Evie Groch

Imperatives

Come, step into the light with me,

hear the breeze carry the seagull’s

wing’s swoop.

Linger with me in sunshine pouring

generously over hills,

painting golden the curves of the land.

Look with me at weeds praying

to become grass,

searching for the green that water brings.

Wait with me until dark

unveils the stars,

features them as sequins in a navy cape.

Inhale with me the spray

of sea on the coast,

the saline smell of waves

coming ashore.

Grasp my hand as I lead you

into the calm of the woods

to listen to the language of trees. 

Do this and I’ll never ask 

another thing of you.

Jeremy Szuder

Ushering Out Another Summer

Nothing else will ever compare,

to an orange cat talking in 

a darkened hallway in the middle 

of this quiet night.

Nothing else will suffice to

the amount of calm that falls:

the cat purrs and I whisper

out loud that I love her.

She wants me to stop writing

but I cannot, and I resume.

The lead scratches a wash of sound

for her to close her eyes to.

Sleep has stapled its bargain

to the bodies of us all.

Summer days left gentle memories

that we pine and play over 

until the stillness takes center stage.

Nothing is left but mere time

to replicate its traveling carnival 

upon our last days, left to run

through endless mazes of the sun,

these last noons set on fire,

these bygone journeys lost

to the textbook lessons about

to be learned.

Judge Santiago Burdon

Ran Into Elvis, Jesus and 

Your Memory at Walmart

There I was toothbrushless— 

mine pilfered along with shampoo, deodorant, razors and other such, found me wasted in Walmart, thieving gnomes at the last homeless shelter are my suspects.

His name tag said Elvis, greeting customers at the starting gate, navigating shopping cart jockeys with cherubs riding shotgun. My request for the location of items is answered Presley style, past houseware, he Hound-Dogged, lip curled.

Among