Paperclips and highway ghostings,
There’s no sense of place just like there’s no hint of sound;
The rotors fail and the car stalls, your phone number in ink
On the inside of my palm.
Gas station coffee, two empty cans,
There’s this outside feeling, just like there’s this devil may care;
My door is open, there’s no one to call, your phone number in ink
On the inside of my palm.
Cigarette butts and shattered bottles,
There’s a trail to the guardrail, just like there’s a trail to the bridge;
The water whispers, the jump looks calm, your phone number in ink
On the inside of my palm
− Stephanie M. Wytovich
Stephanie M. Wytovich is an instructor of English by day and a horror writer by night. She is the poetry editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, a book reviewer for Nameless Magazine, and the assistant to Carlow University’s international Master’s of Fine Arts Program for Creative Writing. She is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-nominated poetry collections, Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, and Brothel can be found at www.rawdogscreaming.com, and her debut novel, The Eighth, will be out in 2016 from Dark Regions Press. Follow Wytovich at stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com and on twitter @JustAfterSunset. She lives in South Park. Many writers featured in Chapter & Verse are guests of Prosody, produced by Jan Beatty and Ellen Wadey. Prosody airs every Saturday morning on WESA 90.5 FM.
