Amy Small-McKinney – Inside Our Womb of Danger

Inside Our Womb of Danger             After Yehuda Amichai In our basement, a walk-in closet spacious enough for all of us, shelves-to-ceiling provisions: peas, sauerkraut, dried milk. Bomb shelter and cupboard never used except to grab an extra can while mother cooked, or a condiment, say, for a lamb dinner in our kitchen where father slammed […]

Amy Small McKinney’s One Day I Am a Field, Reviewed by Erica Goss

Amy Small-McKinney One Day I Am a Field Glass Lyre Press Reviewer: Erica Goss “Instantly, soundlessly, a meadow called bereft.” — “One Day I Am a Field” In her most recent poetry collection, Amy Small-McKinney delivers a devastating account of caregiving’s emotional and physical tolls. By turns fierce, exhausted, passionate, and wise, the speaker in […]

Amy Small-McKinney – How to Love the World, Anyway

How To Love The World, Anyway Except in light rain a body becomes a ringed seal, pinniped, fore-flippers balanced against shore ice, exhaling to empty half-lungs before a dive. Be half-quiet, half-drunk rain drizzling on a body that has decided to love at least half-way. Return to your simple tile floor—real— won’t lift or levitate […]

Amy Small-McKinney – Wildfires & Other Catastrophes

Wildfires & Other Catastrophes In the meantime, I’ll tell you about words & their meaning. How my father screamed at me/to the world. How I blistered/was I wrong? “This is America, not Poland.” Don’t confuse fire with other devastation. Look for definition. Fire: Carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen, combustion. Zyklon B: Main component […]

Amy Small-McKinney’s Walking Toward Cranes, Reviewed by Ann Wehrman

Amy Small-McKinney Walking Toward Cranes Glass Lyre Press Reviewer: Ann Wehrman Cancer. The word strikes fear, anger, and grief into one’s mind and heart. Despite 21st century medical wizardry—including stem cell therapies, bionic body parts, and quick and easy outpatient surgeries—cancer remains a dreaded killer. “According to estimates from the International Agency for Research on […]