65. Poetry by Joshua Gage

deep autumn . . . & other poems

deep autumn . . .
an errant UFO beam
crimsons the tree stand

Geiger counter chirps
echo the seared ruins . . .
and yet dandelions

Day 13:
the alien-proof doors
starting to buckle

alien library . . .
translating the word “plague”
a little too late

autumn equinox . . .
through grandfather’s telescope
what’s left of the moon

evolutionary mysteries
tangling together . . .
Martian fossils

what I tell
my daughter happened . . .
hidden gills

NGC-6751
her wish to be scattered
in space

Joshua Gage

Joshua Gage is an ornery curmudgeon from Cleveland. His newest chapbook, Origami Lilies, is available on Poet’s Haven Press. He is a graduate of the Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Naropa University. He has a penchant for Pendleton shirts, Ethiopian coffee, and any poem strong enough to yank the breath out of his lungs.

Editor’s Note: As mentioned in the introduction, congratulations to Joshua Gage, whose speculative haiku, “Penrose process . . .” has been long listed for the 2022 Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems. The poem appeared in The Starlight SciFaiku Review, Issue 2, Summer 2022. The award is organized by The Haiku Foundation. Here is what their website states about the award: “The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems recognize excellence and innovation in English-language haiku and senryu published in juried public venues during each calendar year.”