Mantis 21 (Summer 2023)
New Poetry

Cheyenne Hicks


      Audio Recordings

A throaty resonance of words to remember

ideas long ago thought, the voice sounds like a different timbre

Starters of stories and poetry in free verse

unfinished and unfiltered, left to freedoms of the universe

The writer, the speaker, the reader and listener

as one. Omnipresent, who will christen the recording

- Delete

Anniversary

Let us pretend this is an ode to you

to us. To all that we have become.

A lesson in thankfulness, a note of gratitude

For never making me feel

like calibrating or conforming

to fitting, a custom-made suit

just for you

Somehow a magnet, we were drawn together

in all my awkward imperfections

and imperfect habits. My quiet need to be alone, be with just me.

A pull of one opposite drawn to another

A forcefield joined by:in differences.

A lethal combination.

Combustion!