"As Long As There Is A Hell" by Edward Lee
Kelly R. Samuels | Lethe, Daughter of Eris, Thinks on Fire
The old Black Horse Bar
& Grill was still smoking
when I headed south, back
to where I came from.
What remained reminded me
of the charcoal sticks I was fond
of in my art school days—
those days I gave up
after having never adequately
captured perspective.
Westward, they drew from
the ocean to fight the fires.
He told me how he had watched
the planes skim the surface
and rise weighted.
It seemed to help some. Maybe.
The first house she ever lived in
out there looked like the Black Horse
now, where the boys had met
all those years ago to play
volleyball. Sand on their knees.
The low high fives I never
had occasion to use.
It’s all gone.
The grasses are so dry
and the wind’s kicking up.
& Grill was still smoking
when I headed south, back
to where I came from.
What remained reminded me
of the charcoal sticks I was fond
of in my art school days—
those days I gave up
after having never adequately
captured perspective.
Westward, they drew from
the ocean to fight the fires.
He told me how he had watched
the planes skim the surface
and rise weighted.
It seemed to help some. Maybe.
The first house she ever lived in
out there looked like the Black Horse
now, where the boys had met
all those years ago to play
volleyball. Sand on their knees.
The low high fives I never
had occasion to use.
It’s all gone.
The grasses are so dry
and the wind’s kicking up.
Kelly R. Samuels is the author of two poetry collections and four chapbooks—the most recent Oblivescence (Red Sweater Press, 2024) and Talking to Alice (Whittle Micro-Press, 2023.) She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee with work appearing in River Styx, The Massachusetts Review, Denver Quarterly, december, and RHINO. She lives in the Upper Midwest.
Edward Lee is an artist and photographer from Ireland. His paintings and photography have been exhibited and published widely, with many pieces in private collections. His website can be found at https://lastimagesphotography.com
Instagram: @edwardleeart
Instagram: @edwardleeart
