The Tangled Branch Discussion Forums

ROUNDING BOARDS In this yard, a garden spinner wicks away rain.   Magnolia leaves - their pin-wheels set to dry by a weak tea of sun - homage a toy cart.   A concrete donkey keeps pulling. Breezes crank turn stiles admitting song birds like ticket-holders to a boardwalk.   Everyone scatters, everyon...

BLUE STREAK Like a wooden roller coaster with an out-and-back design, she’s ranked, the chain lift carrying riders up the first slope and dropping them, mouths open, ties flying.   Last night, a period movie about Bonnie and Clyde, nobody could find each other in the dust cloud after the chase, but ...

Felt it. Welcome!

Great trope and "paunch and skull" is very fresh and sonic.

These days, much is written about the connection between gut and mind, the manufacturing of serotonin etc. Enjoyed!

Tim, wax paper is one of my favorites in poems. So rich. Enjoyed.

For those of us who like to write narrative poems, what are their limits? I just posted one that, it could be argued, is prose ragged right. I fought with this thing for days. Decided to post it as a poem, but maybe it's a flash fiction piece, or the first page of a short story. Either one would be ...

The poplar trees are leaning in like girlfriends sharing potent secrets, nearly scraping the roof of the squatty house. At the drive, a broom of rain strikes a handmade sign: "Minnie's Ark: Now accepting your unwanted animals." The sun swoons and fails, unhooking her crinoline and asking the cloudy ...

SEEKING INPUT ON MFA PROGRAMS, certificate programs, workshops and conferences not for bragging rights, but to be the best poet you can be. I am looking at fully funded MFA programs that take like 5% of their applicants and also more accessible non-traditional paths. I am excited to see some afforda...

thank you I was just online looking at stuff like this and wondering about it.

Very original and well-conceived! I use a public laundromat at this time and there is no romance in it for me but this is fresh. Great job.