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Poetry: Dead Uncertainty by Sam Barbee

Dead Uncertainty

by Sam Barbee

 

at times is called a flicker.

is sifted with silver.

heartens friction.

confirms enchantment.

The pulse on the end of a candle

Today’s implacable myth

Leaves chasing gusts about the yard

Translucence baptizing the puddle

 

at times is called cruelty.

ripens false positive.

is termed pilgrimage.

insinuates atonement.

Doves’ refusal to flee against squall

A pearl of sand in the shell’s crotch

The tall boy with jeweled lobes

Tune conjoined to an impending hello

 

at times is called emulsion.

befriend serration.

can be christened harsh.

implies flint.

Tempera whisking wedge of horizons

Innuendos as you include me

Garnish sprinkled on my white plate

Reticence on a tongue’s confession

 

never reveals presumption.

will be known as craving.

can be called turbulence.

at times it is phenomenal.

Passion tilting the sullied halo

Syntax twisting the crime of clarity

Coffee steaming in a brunet mug

When you offer a phenomenal embrace

About the author

Sam Barbee’s poems have appeared Poetry South, The NC Literary Review, Crucible, Asheville Poetry Review, The Southern Poetry Anthology VII: North Carolina, Georgia Journal, Kakalak, and Pembroke Magazine, among others; plus on-line journals Vox Poetica, Sky Island Journal, Courtland Review and The New Verse News.  

His second poetry collection, That Rain We Needed (2016, Press 53), was a nominee for the Roanoke-Chowan Award as one of North Carolina’s best poetry collections of 2016.  He was awarded an “Emerging Artist’s Grant” from the Winston-Salem Arts Council to publish his first collection Changes of Venue (Mount Olive Press); has been a featured poet on the North Carolina Public Radio Station WFDD; received the 59th Poet Laureate Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society for his poem “The Blood Watch”; and is a Pushcart nominee.  

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Flashes

Created in 2014, Flashes is a privately owned literary website. We publish short stories, non-fiction, flash fiction and poetry. Our goal is to give talented writers a platform to showcase their creativity, with an emphasis on original voice, innovative style and challenging plots.
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