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Russell "Gifted Fingers"  is the Sapphire Winner in Poetry for the 2022 Jewels in the Queen's Crown Contest (Sweetycat Press)

"Gifted Fingers" 
is the Sapphire Winner in Poetry
for the
2022 Jewels in the Queen's Crown
Contest (Sweetycat Press)

Emerging as a poet in 2019 (with the publication on January 2 of three poems in The Write Launch), the poetry of Russell E. Willis has been published or accepted for publication in more than thirty journals and twenty anthologies.  

​

In addition to poetry intended for a general audience, Russell has composed an extensive list of Christian poetry based on the Common Lectionary.  Much of Russell's poetry, secular and religious, lends itself to musical settings, especially for choral music. Use the Contact section at the bottom of the Home page to inquire about using Russell's poetry as lyrics for your musical compositions, to find out more about the lectionary collection, or to commission a poem or lyric.

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Supermoon
 

October Hills Magazine

Volume 8, Issue 1 (Spring 2024)

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Leaping Day
​

Love Wins

February 29, 2024

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Winter's Peak
 

Open Door Magazine:  Frost and Firelight (Winter 2024)

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Summer - Memory or Prophecy?

The Write Launch: Climate Crisis Issue (Winter 2024)

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To Cradle Hope

Love Wins

November 15, 2023

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Amazing Grace
 

Agape Review

September 28, 2023

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Images of Night
 

The Write Launch

Issue 77 (September 2023)

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It Doesn't Give Me Hope

The Writer's Club

July 22, 2023

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Smiling at a Crocus in the Snow

Poetry of the Wild Flowers Antholgy, 2023

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How Hard It Is to Change My Mind

Writers Club

March 11, 2023

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Where Once Lay a Sprawling Lake

Our Changing Earth, Vol. 2, THE POET, Winter 2022

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Alone in the Universe?

Writers Club

December 24, 2022

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Dance of the Cafeteros

Valiant Scribe

December 15, 2022

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Harvested Words
 

Tiny Seed Journal

October 31, 2022

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You
 

Close Up: Poems on Cancer...

Orchard Lea Press, 2022

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Windsong: Solo Flute
 

The Write Launch

Issue 66 (October 2022)

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A Word for That Sound

Cathexis Northwest

October 2022

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It's Been a Long Time
 

The Writers Club

August 20  2022 

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Light Breaks into New Day

Love Wins

August 5,  2022 

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Failure of Imagination
 

Breathe

July 2022   

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Surf
 

Love Wins

July 30,  2022 

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In Birdsong
 

Poetry Downtown Rutland

The Paper Poet, April 2022

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Undisturbed
 

The Metaworker Literary Magazine  March 18, 2022

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Discernment
 

The Writers Club

February 19, 2022

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The Path: A Bombed- out Bridge in Irpin

Poetry for Ukraine

The POET, 2022.

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Glass Jars at a Cafe
 

Cathexis Northwest Press

December 2021

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Memorial Day
 

The Writers Club

November 6, 2021

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Shadow Play
 

The Write Launch

Issue 55 (November 2021)

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To Sing of the Saints
 

Agape Review

November 1, 2021

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Venetian Masks
 

The Valiant Scribe

October 22, 2021

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Fathomless Pain

Adversity

THE POET, Autumn 2021

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Moonflower
 

Love Wins!
September 12, 2021

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Resilience
 

Love Wins!
August 25, 2021

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Were There Not Ten?
 

Agape Review

July 23, 2021

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Known
 

Friends & Friendship, THE POET, Summer 2021

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Requiem for the Selfless

THE POET Magazine - Profiles, 2021

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On the Bridge Too Far

THE POET Magazine - Profiles, 2021

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Small Courages
 

The Writers Club

July 3, 2021

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Of Little Faith
 

Faith, Volume 1

THE POET, 2021

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hope is not in spite of
 

American Writers Review 2021: Turmoil & Recovery

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In the Between
 

Intangible Magazine

Vol. 1 (2021) 

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Chipped Stool
 

Atherton Review

Vol. 104 (2021)

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There Are No Words
 

The Write Launch

Issue 47 (March 2021)

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At the Edge (of a Lake)

Peeking Cat Literary

January 30, 2021

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Haiku (a child is to love)

Childhood, Volume 1

THE POET, Winter 2020 

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Starlight
 

Christmas 

THE POET, December 2020

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Voices from the Other Room

Snapdragon

Winter 2020

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Sunset
 

As Above So Below

Issue 6, 2020

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Caregiver's Lamentation

Corona Global Lockdown 
Poet's Choice Press, 2020 

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Quality Time with a Spider

Tiny Seed Literary Journal, June 4, 2020 

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Thalia & Melpomene
 

The Write Launch

Issue 38 (June, 2020) 

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Not Mine To Be
 

Cathexis Northwest

Nov. 2019

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Of Joy and Laughter
 

Vermont's Best Emerging Poets 2019

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Life Dunes

The Write Launch

Issue 29 (Sept. 2019)

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The Path

The MOON magazine

August 2019

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Dream Chaser

Steady Hands: Ode to Our Fathers  (2019)

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Pondering How Best to Start

Snapdragon

Spring 2019

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A Train at Night

The Write Launch

Issue 21 (Jan. 2019)

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Two Skies, Two Nights
 

October Hills Magazine

Volume 8, Issue 1 (Spring 2024)

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Nano and Pawpaw
 

Loss

Pure Slush, 2024

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Earth Cries and the Oceans Catch the Tears

The Write Launch: Climate Crisis Issue (Winter 2024)

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We Are the Both
 

The Writes Club 

December 30, 2023

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Seasons (in four poems)

Cathexis Northwest Poetry

November-December, 2023

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This Old Brick Church
 

The Writer's Club

September 16, 2023

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Overheard on a Train
 

The Write Launch

Issue 77 (November 2023)

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Futile Wars
 

The Metaworker

July 3, 2023

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Crystalled Night Redemption

October Hills Magazine

Volume 7, Issue 1 (Spring 2023)

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Mere Joy
 

Love Wins!

March 12, 2023

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And They Were Gone
 

Emblazoned Soul

Issue 1, Winter 2022

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Wonder-full
 

Flora Fiction Literary Magazine

Winter 2022

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Monometer
 

Writers Club

December 10,  2022

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Rushdie
 

Breathe

October 30, 2022

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What Do I Say?
 

Close Up: Poems on Cancer...

Orchard Lea Press, 2022

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The Dig
 

The Write Launch

Issue 66 (October 2022)

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Leaf From a Gradual
 

Osmosis Press

September 11, 20222 

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Gifted Fingers
Award Winner!

Jewels in the Queen's Crown, Sweetycat Press (2022)

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Black Gold's Siren Sound

Family

THE POET (2022)   

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Ten Is Too Few
 

Agape Review

June 5, 2022

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Potential
 

Tiny Seed Journal - Seed

May 21, 2022

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Villanelle of Grace
 

Poetry Downtown Rutland

The Paper Poet, April 2022

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Beholding a Beholder
 

Beautiful: In the eye of the beholder, 2022

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Poet's Passion
 

The Writers Club

February 5, 2022

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How Dare You
 

Ekstasis Magazine

December 2021

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V
 

Tiny Seed Journal - Apaja'simk

November 25, 2021

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Gentle Kiss of New Year's Eve

The Writers Club

January 8, 2022

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Fullness of Time
 

The Write Launch

Issue 55 (November 2021)

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Wiping the Tears of a Child of God

Agape Review

November 1, 2021

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It Is My Grief
 

Adversity

THE POET,  Autumn 2021

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The Moon It Fell
 

The Writers Club

October 9, 2021

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Repeating History
 

Breathe
September 2021

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With Sighs Too Deep for Words

Agape Review

July 28, 2021

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Quest[ion]
 

Breathe

July 2021

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What, But a Fool?
 

THE POET Magazine - Profiles, 2021

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Desert Thunderstorm
 

THE POET Magazine - Profiles, 2021

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Résumé
 

Desire

Poet's Choice Press (2021) 

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The Sighing Will Flee Away

Faith, Volume 1

THE POET, 2021

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Snake Tree
 

Tiny Seed Journal: Hibernation, April 21, 2021

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Sunburnt Love
 

Sledgehammer Literary Journal, April 7, 2021

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Handful of If
 

Vermont Public Radio: Be- tween the Lines, April 2021

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Peace
 

The Write Launch

Issue 47 (March 2021)

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Meeting Ellie
 

Close Friends and Relatives

Poet's Choice Press (2021) 

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Tabletop Musing
 

Peeking Cat Literary

January 30,  2021

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Vermont Mountains
 

Tiny Seed Journal: Lessons from the Wild, January 4, 2021

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Christmas Sky
 

Christmas 

THE POET, December 2020

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Sent to our Rooms or Into the Streets

Fruits of our Quarantine

Wingless Dreamer, 2020

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Lizzy's Sonnet
 

Grand Little Things

July15, 2020

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Shelter in Place
 

Corona Global Lockdown 

Poet's Choice Press, 2020 

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And So We Sleep
 

The Write Launch

Issue 38 (June 2020)

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Not Remembered
 

October Hill Magazine

Spring 2020

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Danaus sentiensus
 

Cathexis Northwest

Nov. 2019

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Voices from the Other Room

Vermont's Best Emerging Poets 2019

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Just Do It

The Write Launch

Issue 29 (Sept. 2019)

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Stillness

The MOON magazine

August 2019

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Thank You for the Whispers

Gratitudes: To Our Mothers  (2019)

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Judge Not By What Makes Us Small

Esthetic Apostle

Feb. 2019

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Long Ago, Friday Nights in Texas

The Write Launch

Issue 21 (Jan. 2019)

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Do Not Be Afraid
 

Love Wins

April 2, 2024

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That Other Stuff
 

The Writers Club

February 3, 2024

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Reservoir No More
 

The Write Launch: Climate Crisis Issue (Winter 2024)

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Reflections in a Bookstore Window

Books 

Truth Serum Vol. 7  (2023)

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On the Wing

Tiny Seed Literary Journal

October 1, 2023

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If These Walls Could Talk
 

The Write Launch

Issue 77 (September 2023)

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Willful Ignorance
 

Breathe

August 2023

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Standing Too Close to Darkness

Labyrinth, Intangible Magazine, Issue IV (July 2023)

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Without a Moral Compass

Breathe

April 2023

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Causes Lost or Losing
 

Writers Club

February 4, 2023

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No Two Fires the Same

Snapdragon: A Journal of Art & Healing, Issue 8.4, Winter 2022

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Winter Run
 

Flora Fiction Literary Magazine

Winter 2022

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Winter Dusk-Night
 

swifts & slows

No. 17, December 2022

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Sitting in Darkness
 

Valiant Scribe

October 28, 2022

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Her England: A Constant Rain

Poetry Celebrating the Life of Queen Elizabeth II, THE POET

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Sudden Gasp
 

The Write Launch

Issue 66 (October 2022)

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Conjured as Memory
 

Intangible Magazine

Vol. 3 (2022) 

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On Character
 

The Writers Club

August 6  2022 

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Four Friends at Breakfast

Family

THE POET (2022)   

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And the Other Two
 

Agape Review

June 5, 2022

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To Dream of Being Sky

October Hill Magazine

Volume 6, Issue 1 (Spring 2022)

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Gifted Fingers
 

Movement: Our Bodies in Action  (2022)

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New Moon in Winter Dusk-Night Sky

Vermilion - Flash Issue 5

February 25, 2022

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From the Very Last Seat
 

The Writers Club

January 22, 2022

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Forever, Always
 

A Love Letter To ...

Sweetycat Press, 2021

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Exhausted Dreams
 

Breathe

January 2022

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Windsong: Grand Opera
 

The Write Launch

Issue 55 (November 2021)

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Abba, I Thank You
 

Agape Review

November 1, 2021

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Remember
 

The Writers Club

October 23, 2021

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The Art of Hate
 

Breathe

November 2021

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Wandering Around
the Truth

The Writers Club

September 25, 2021

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Broken Poem?
 

Adversity

THE POET, Autumn 2021

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Sitting in Darkness
 

Agape Review

July 26, 2021

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Live Oak Forest
 

Tiny Seed Journal: Forest Anthology, July 1, 2021

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Patience
 

Agape Review

July 30, 2021

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Glass-Half-Fullness
 

THE POET Magazine - Profiles, 2021

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I Hear the Dawn in Birdsong

THE POET- Poem of the Day
May 26,  2021

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Grace to You, and Peace
 

Faith, Volume 1

THE POET, 2021

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Enough of Sadness (A Plea in Villanelle)

Last Leaves, Issue 2, 2021 (page 128)

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Unseparate
 

Intangible Magazine

Vol. 1 (2021)

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Stop It!
 

433

March 4, 2021

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Que Será - Mother's Stare

The Write Launch

Issue 47 (March 2021)

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Judge Not By What Makes Us Small

Second Chance Lit

Phoenix Project 2/26/21

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Scar
 

Childhood, Volume 1

THE POET, Winter 2020 

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So, So Small
 

Christmas 

THE POET, December 2020

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It's Worth the Mess
 

Meat for Tea - The Valley Review Vol 14 #4, 2020

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Flooding Ol' Jim's Grave
 

Breathe

November 2020

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This Between Time
 

Frost Meadow Review - Pandemic Poetry    6/24/20 

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We Never Used to Look
 

Corona Global Lockdown 

Poet's Choice Press, 2020 

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Attic
 

The Write Launch

Issue 38 (June, 2020) 

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Poison Grapes
 

Snapdragon

Dec. 2019

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In That Moment
 

Vermont's Best Emerging Poets 2019

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Four Moves from Now

Meat for Tea - The Valley Review (Vol 13)

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Warning

The Write Launch

Issue 29 (Sept. 2019)

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No Two Fires the Same [Old Fire]

Tiny Seed Journal

June 2019

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Cardinal Impulse

Tiny Seed Journal

Spring 2019

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Joy

The Write Launch

Issue 21 (Jan. 2019)

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Natural Theology

The Perkins Log , Volume XXX, No. 2 (Spring 1981)

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