phobia pantoum By Adriana Barker a shadow man approaches me in the parking lot. Don’t fall asleep. he moans of a time the world forgot. You people forget your nightmares too fast. Don’t fall asleep. his cheek stretches into tiny holes, caverns of dark. You people forget your nightmares too fast.

My Golden Sister (A Golden Shovel poem with a line from Dorothy Parker’s “Resumé”) By Adriana Barker In the store, you eye the aisle with razors, imagine the release, shove aside the idea of pain. Tales of freedom and pearly gates tempt you to approach the rivers to carry your body into an ar

Bareback By Adriana Barker The scruffy cowboy bends a knee, gestures under the Lord’s guidance, and kisses beads and cross. After this moment of silence it’s rodeo, baby. He’s climbing the fence, half a ton of pure equine hatred roiling between the gates. He wishes he’d prayed a little harde