En Attente de Conversation

Dr. Ernest Williamson III has published creative work in over 600 journals. Williamson has published poetry in over 200 journals, including The Oklahoma Review, Poetry Life and Times, The Roanoke Review, Pamplemousse,formerly known asThe Gihon River Review, The Copperfield Review, Pinyon Review, I-70 Review,andWilderness House Literary Review.His artwork has appeared in hundreds of journals includingNew England Review, Kestrel,andColumbia Review. Ernest has an M.A. from the University of Memphis and a Ph.D. from Seton Hall University. Williamson has taught composition and literature courses at numerous institutions including Fairleigh Dickinson University, Nyack College, Essex County College, and Allen University. He lives in Tennessee.

Kiss

by Kevin Griffin

By her locker or by my locker 
I don’t remember, and I don’t remember
why we were so alone under yellowed
fluorescent light in that hallway of dead air
after the afternoon bell’s assault,
all the other junior high students scattered
like eraser bits swiped from the desk,

though I do remember having no choice:
I was lost in Ellen’s big eyes, blue true
as spilled ink shocking loose-leaf paper,
asking would she go steady with me,
and then her milky complexion began
to redden, reticent, and next to the fire
alarm, between question and answer, my cold,

clammy hands searching for pockets, voices
of Michelle and Theresa and Jill
and Jessica and Andy and Jake coaching
my nerves, she whispered the word and kissed me
and, though we’d break up a few weeks later,
from that day on, so below as above,
she’d taught my heart to be soggy with love.

 

Author's Bio:

Kevin Griffin is an English and Creative Writing teacher at Detroit Catholic Central High School. He lives in Plymouth, Michigan, with his wife and sons. His first chapbook,Line and Hook,was published by the Michigan Writers Cooperative Press. His second chapbook,Note the Tone,was published by Celery City Books. His poetry has appeared inThe Broad River Review, Up North Lit, Sheepshead Review, Common Ground Review, The MacGuffin,andSand Hills Literary Magazine,among other publications.