Alison Jennings:

air and fire poet

 . . . slight air and purging fire; the first my thought, the other my desire  (Sonnet 45, Shakespeare)

Contact:   mediashynot@gmail.com

I am a Seattle-based poet who returned to poetry after public school teaching.  

Below are links to my 109 published poems, including a mini-chapbook Desire and Despair (go to  payhip.com/b/0RBt8 ).

Publications, May 2018 - September 2024

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1.  "Depression Lifting (For Pablo Neruda)" was first published in the May 2018 Havik anthology Rise, Las Positas College, CA (print),  here: 

2.  "Deadheading the Roses" was first published online October 2018 at SWWIM Every Day, here, and republished on "Throwback Thursday", 2/27/24, here:

 3.  "Perfect Sentences:  Free Verse N E" was first published online November 2018 in ExSpecPo (the Operating System), here:

4.  "Over the Edge (Homage to William Stafford)" was first published online November 2018 in Cathexis Northwest Press,   here :  

Audio (read by Alison)

5.  "On the Road (Hitchhiking in Despair)" was first published online December 2018 in trampset,  here:

6.  "Vanishing Point (October Vignette)" was first published online/print, January 2019 in Burningword Literary Journal, here :  

7.  "Artichokes, 1972" was first published online/print April 2019 by  Hey, I'm Alive, here:

8.  "Dreamcatcher" was first published online May 2019 by Prometheus Dreaming, here:

9.  "Bad Woman" was first published online August 2019 by The Bangalore Review, here:

10.  "Apple Tree in Blossom (For John Locke)" was first published in Flying South, No. 6, September 2019 (print) , and  here:  

11.  "Playing Hooky from the Should" was first published in Cathexis Northwest Press, December 2019, online/audio version, here:  

12.  "Spiritual Activism (For Frederick Buechner)" was first published online  January 3, 2020, in the Showbear Family Circus, here:

13.  "Dying Regrets (For the Obituary Page)" was first published February 2020 in the book To the Newspaper from Poets' Choice (print)  here, and as an e-reader (pg. 7) here and here:

14.   "Juicy Harlem (Langston and Biggie Remix)" was first published in  Meat for Tea:  The Valley Review, 15th Anniv. issue,  March 2021 (print) and here:

15.   "The Baker's Son" was first published in Meat for Tea:  The Valley Review, 15th Anniv. Issue,   March 2021 ( print) and here:

16.  "Whales Attempt an Outreach (A Renga)" was first published in Meat for Tea:  The Valley Review, 15th Anniv. Issue,  March 2021 (print) and here:  

17.  "Dear Coffee" was first published i n Coffee People Zine, Issue 12, Spring 2021 (print) and here:

18.  "Overheard at a Coffee Shop (A Flamenca)" was first published in Coffee People Zine, Issue 12, Spring 2021 (print) and here:

19.  "Love Street Blues" won 3rd Place in the "Love This!" Poetry Contest and was first published in  the  "Love This!" Anthology Hunger for Awe, available at Amazon.com, Summer 2021, here, and here: 

20.  "Song from Your Father" was first published  in WayWords Literary Journal, Issue #2 (print), May 2021,  and here:

21.  "What the Photo Does Not Say" was first published in WayWords Literary Journal, Issue #2 (print) May 2021, and here:

22.  "Intrepid Dreamers" was first published online  May 2021 in The Write Launch,  here:                

23.  "Meanwhile" was first published online May 2021 issue in The Write Launch, here: 

24.  "Variations on Nineteen Words" was first published online May 2021 in The Write Launch, here:

25.  "Meeting in the Middle, Lebanon KS" was first published online in The Fictional Café, 7/5/21, here:

26.  "Getting Back Good"  was first published online  in  The Fictional Café, 7/5/21, here:

27.  "Figure, Birds:  Miro Exhibit at SAM" was first published online in The Fictional Café, 7/5/21, here:

28.  "Ferns (A Nature Poem)" was first published online in The Fictional Café, 7/5/21 , here:

29.  "Family Tree (The Search)" was first published online on The Fictional Café, 7/5/21, here:

30.  "A Diller, A Dollar" was first published online in Dwelling Literary, July 2021,  on pp. 9-10,  here:

31.  "Waiting Tables (Rondeau Redouble)" was first published online in Sledgehammer Lit on 8/27/21, here:

32.  "Dragonfly Dreams " won 3rd Place in the "Dare to Dream"  Contest for Dream Quest One, Winter 2020-2021, here:

33.  "Nature's Renewal Plan (After the Pandemic)" received  Honorable Mention in the Tales for Love International Nature Writing Anthology Contest 2020-2021, PDF/print, pp. 13-15, here and here:

34.   "Birds of America" was first published online or PDF in Wild Roof Journal, Issue #10, September 2021, here:

35.  "Lisa's Recipe for Health" was first published online on the Sad Girls Club Literary Blog on 6/15/21, here: 

36.  "Emergency Beacon" was a featured poem online/print in Better Than Starbucks Poetry and Fiction Journal, August 2021,  here:

37.  "In interesting Times" was first published online/print in Better Than Starbucks Poetry and Fiction Journal, November 2021, here:

38.  "Liberation Strategy" was first published  online in Maya's Micros on The Closed Eye Open website, 7/9/21, here:

39.  "Variegated Foliage" was first published in (in parentheses) Summer 2021, Vol. 7 (print) and  here:

40.  "Ode to the Color Green" was first published in (in parentheses) Summer 2021, Vol. 7 (print) and here:

41.  "Assassins of Greenery" was first published in (in parentheses) Summer 2021, Vol. 7 (print) and here:

42.  "I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold" was first published online/PDF, 7th Anniv.  Issue Twenty-One of Sonic Boom, December 2021, and on page 8,  here:

43.  "Future Beauty:  Japanese Fashion at the Art Museum" was first published in The Raw Art Review, Summer/Fall 2021, online/print and here:

44.  "Party Over, Oops, Out of Time" was first published in The Raw Art Review, Summer/Fall 2021, online/print and here:

45.  "In the Desert of the Heart (The Bop)" was first published in The Raw Art Review, Summer/Fall 2021, online/print and here:

46.  "Water of Life" was first published online in Stone Poetry Journal, Issue Two, November 2021,  here:

47.  "Stronger Marinades" was first published online in Green Ink Poetry, Collection 7, "Pyres", August 2021,  here:

48.  "Kite Festival (Gujarat)" was first published online in The Pangolin Review, Issue 20,  1/4/2022,  here:

49.  "She Lives Within" was first published online in Hare's Paw Literary Journal, September 2021, inaugural issue, here:   (click on name)

50.  "All Creatures Great and Small" was first published  online  in Poetic Sun, Issue 6, Fall 2021, p. 4, here:

51.  "Salt Seeking" was first published  online  in Poetic Sun, Issue 6, Fall 2021,  pp. 5-6, here:

52.  "WTF, Who Sent This?" was first published online in The Flying Saucer Review, Fall 2021,  here:

53. "Gloria Steinem (A Clerihew)" was first published online on the Mslexia Little Ms website, August 2021, here:

54.  "Siblings on a Sleigh" was first published  in  Last Leaves , "Masks", October 2021 (print), p. 58, here;  available at Barnes and Noble, here:

55.  "Butterflies Underneath the Desert" was first published in On Spec Magazine, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2021 (print) and here:

56.  "Sapphic Fragments" was first published in the Brigids Gate Press anthology Musings of the Muses, 4/30/2022, and here:

57.  "The Past Keeps Changing (For Chana Bloch)" was first published in  Voices, Visions, and Dreams:  An Anthology, 12/2/21, a benefit for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, on Amazon here and here:

58.  "Elemental, My Dear (A Sonnet)" was first published online 12/6/21, The Society of Classical Poets homepage, and here:

59.  "Across the Universe" was first published online in the debut issue of Space Cadet SciFi Review, Spring 2022, p. 53,  here:

60.  "Fallen to Earth" was first published online in the debut issue of Space Cadet SciFi Review, Spring 2022, p. 54,  here:

61.  "Planet of the Poets:  Paradise Regained" was first published online in the debut issue of Space Cadet SciFi Review, Spring 2022, p. 55, here:

62.  "The Presidents of Rain" was first published online in the debut issue of Space Cadet SciFi Review, Spring 2022, p. 56, and won 6th Place in the 2022 Critters Writers Workshop Readers Poll,  here:

63.  "A Pocketful of Borrowed Beads" was first published online in The Wise Owl, Topaz Edition, March 2022, here:

64.  "To the Woman in the Next Booth at the IV Therapy Center" was first published online in Pensive:  A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts, Fourth Issue, April 21, 2022, and here:

65.  "The Valley of Death's Shadow" was first published online in The Martian Chronicles (Paragon Press), Issue 005, December 2021, pp. 21-22, issuu.com/theparagonjournal/docs/the_chronicle_magazine_cover_/21  and here:

66.  "The Haunting of the Diner" was first published online/PDF in The Raven Review, Issue #2, 4/25/22, here:

67.  "Unpacking the Tryst" was first published online/print in  Red Door Magazine, Issue #30, Spring 2022,  on page 022, here:

68.  "Communication Error" won a commendation from the 2022 Wirral Poetry Festival, UK, October 2022, and here:

69.  "At Swedish Hospital" was first published  online/print in Dreamers Creative Magazine, Issue 12, July-Oct. 2022, p. 23, here and here:

70.  "Soul Resolutions (For Stanley Kunitz)" was first published online in Amethyst Review, December 31, 2022, here:

71.  "The Anti-Gravity of Nothing Familiar" was first published online in AAWP:  Meniscus Literary Journal,  2022/2, here (click on p. 73 in  Contents) and here:

72.  "Quantum Entanglement (A Renku)" was first published online in The Lotus Tree Literary Review, Autumn 2022, issue  #1, and won First Place in the 2022 Critters Writers Workshop Readers Poll,  here:

73.  "Messages from UFOs" was first published online in The Flying Saucer Poetry Review, Winter 2023, Issue 2, here:

74.  "The Truth Is Out There (Alien Abduction)" was first published online in The Flying Saucer Poetry Review, Winter 2023, Issue 2,  here:

75.  "UFO  Chiaroscuro" was first published online in The Flying Saucer Poetry Review, Winter 2023, Issue 2, here:

76.  "Christmas Cactus Warning" was first published online in The Flying Dodo, Issue 3, December 15, 2022, here and here:

77.  "A Young Poet Reads Hayden Carruth, November 2018" was first published online in Filter Coffee Zine, Issue 4, 2023, here and here:

78.  "A Fistful of Unmetered Rhymes"  was first published in Belletrist 6:  The Calligram Issue, Fall 2023 (print) and here:

79.  "The Night Sky" was first published in the Wingless Dreamer anthology Darkness in Me, June 14, 2023, available at Amazon.com, pp. 66-67, here and here:

80-88:  A mini-chapbook Desire and Despair was published on 8/4/23 by Yavanika Press of 10 poems, 9  previously unpublished:    "The Blue Feather", "We Turn", "John Donne Asks Emily D. for Advice", "Care About Wonder (Ocean  Vuong Replies)", "Portrait of Two Lovers", "Love on an Index Card", "From the Narrow Place", "Death  (A Garden)", and "Three Gifts".  See here:

89.  "Saved for Better" was first published online in New Note Poetry, Summer 2023, p. 53, here, and livestream reading here: 

90.  "Check Enclosed (An Erasure)" has won Honorable Mention in the 3rd Annual Vispo Contest with Sonic Boom, July 2023, here and here:

91.   "Sky Dancers ( Dakini)" was first published in A Safe and Brave Space Anthology of Poetry and Art, Vol. 3, August 2024,   here:

92.   "A Cry in the Dark" was first published in A Safe and Brave Space Anthology of Poetry and Art, Vol.  3, August 2024,  here:

93.  "Soul Sisters" (To Lisa)" was first published in A Safe and Brave Space Anthology of Poetry and Art, Vol. 3, August 2024, here:

94.  "The Advent of Wonder" was first published online in The Catholic Poetry Room, IntegratedCatholicLife.org, 12/6/23, here and here:

95.  "Tampering with Permanence" was first published online on The Society of Classical Poets website, 12/2/23, here:

96.  "Ode to Liminal Spaces (A Villanelle)" was first published online in Cathexis Northwest Press, Jan/Feb 2024, pg. 33,  here:

97.  "Inlaid Bench, La Conner" was first published online 1/26/24 in the debut issue of password,  veryshortpoetry.com,  pg. 30, here:

98.  "Winter's Solace (For Mary Oliver)" was first published in the Wingless Dreamer Anthology Enchanting Winter, December 2023, pg. 33, available on Amazon, here and here:

99.  "Postcard from Berlin" was first published online, Winter 2023,  issue 33 of The Broken City, pg. 9,  here :

100.  "Seattle International Film Festival:  15 Screens, 12 Days" was first published online, Winter 2023, Issue 33 of The Broken City, pg. 9, here :

101.  "ICE, ICE, Baby ( A Bragging Poem)" was first published online in Grande Dame Literary, January 2024, here :

102.  "My Morning Coffee" was first published in Still Point Arts Quarterly, Spring 2024, here and here:

103.  "True North (After Louise Glück)" was first published online in The Bangalore Review, Vol. XI,  May 2024, here and here:

104.  "Memento Belli (Rhyme Royal in Triplicate)" was featured on The Society of Classical Poets website , 6/24/24, here and  here: 

105.  "How It All Works" was first published online in Dreadnought SF #2, Summer 2024, here:

106.  "The City of Your Final Destination" was first published online in Dreadnought SF #2, Summer 2024, here:

107.  "Outlaw Cowboy Tale" was first published online in Dreadnought SF #2, Summer 2024, here:

108.  "Spiritual Mending (To Emily D)" is forthcoming in Amethyst Review, November 2024, and here:

109.  "Forever Winter (For Narnia)" was first published  on From Whispers to Roars website, 8/25/24, here and here:

(Please see below for more details about my work.)