"To be Kissed" by Aran Donovan

These arable lands

To go quizzing about them in hoop skirt

To melt humble in an avid sahara

To piss, comrades in relief abandon

Truly waffle, like a primary in ohio

Kiosk tickled by massive demands

Daily foil to pat affections

Real showmanship, real hands

Skip forward with this antsy passion

To let roses balance on

The fragile arrow of regret can snapLasso a better implement

To corral such inappropriate dimensions

Ah, shornBefore a surly guitar

No shaming lips, no bastard tongue amiss

The dock’s a fancy landingFor a doomed virgin

Fun as interviewing the turgid duke

Who late aching ladled out designs, declared

With giddy mandate

Power on the boulevard excites

Absolutely, such fanfare, such colonnade

But ah jetting honeyInto hey a tumbling silence.

"Cyclically and Socially Underwritten" Aqueous Pigment and Acrylic resin on panel 48"x54" by Kristen Gossler

Aran Donovan lives in New Orleans. Her poetry has appeared in Rhino, New Ohio Review, Southern Poetry Review, and Best New Poets 2013.

Kristen Gossler has been painting and showing her work for over 20 years since she graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1989. Kristen is currently active in the RISD community, employing her skills as one of the artists participating in the annual portfolio reviews in conjunction with the Office of Admissions. She has been exploring the passage of time and friction between the elements of the natural world and man made elements through painting, photography and writing. You can preview her upcoming solo show in Boston, Mass at kristengossler.com and follow her on Facebook or see her active photographic work on instagram at @Rteest.