Two poems by Richard Peabody

The Plains

Tiny bend in the road

Split pea soup

with Canadian bacon

Naked Mountain wine

No Paris in sight

save Virginia

Sassafras and Bayberry

More apples on the ground

than in the baskets

The Rail Stop

Cozy Cool Girl says,

“I’ve had worse things in my mouth”

Shop, Dine, Stay

Gas station sign

flashes GOO YEAR

Human Geometry

The pale, the drunk, the weary

collide

at the atom smasher

Winter Festival

Bobble heads

masked and unmasked

How flexible

are you?

Born in Washington, DC., raised in Bethesda, and now living in Arlington, VA., poet, writer, editor, teacher, publisher, Richard Peabody wears many literary hats. He taught fiction writing at Johns Hopkins University for 15 years. His Gargoyle Magazine (founded 1976) will release issues 74 and 75 by the end of 2021. He has edited (or co-edited) 26 anthologies including Mondo Barbie and A Different Beat. Guinness on the Quay, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2019.