"Rooster of Peace" by Josephine Florens
Kelli Dianne Rule | The tomatoes had gone
all fallen, puckered,
slick lipstick post-ripe red
and I gather them anyway
in my green plastic tote. Blue rubber boots
on wet pine mulch, me and my
rust-stained gloves
harvest the aborted, the raisined, do you know
from even the bird-beak-poked
some can be saved.
Though most will likely surrender
utility to their seeds.
slick lipstick post-ripe red
and I gather them anyway
in my green plastic tote. Blue rubber boots
on wet pine mulch, me and my
rust-stained gloves
harvest the aborted, the raisined, do you know
from even the bird-beak-poked
some can be saved.
Though most will likely surrender
utility to their seeds.
Kelli Dianne Rule is an author of dark fiction who claims roots in the backwoods of Florida. Recent writings may be found in Heavy Feather Review, Whale Road Review, BULL, JMWW, Luna Station Quarterly and The Avenue Journal, among others. She is a 2025 Pushcart Prize and Best Microfiction nominee. Follow her at www.kellirule.com.
Josephine Florens is a Ukrainian artist based in Germany. Her paintings explore identity, memory, and resilience through expressive color and symbolic form. Exhibited internationally, her works have appeared in journals and collections across Europe and North America.
