Issue 5.2
Spring 2026
Sheila Griffin
Reflection
Writing poems is a delight. Writing poems is hard. To get to the core, I perhaps over-revise, and I no longer save earlier drafts. I'm a slow learner, a late bloomer?, a Capricorn looking forward to the age of Aquarius, hoping it really is a thing, a positive thing.
Recurring Dream Analysis
I had it again, the desire of water
swept along. The vow to stop wanting
ending in a shrine. A belief
that suffering is meaningful.
Then, in a similar dream, I held
a dog and a horse on a leash,
a lot to handle but I handled it
the way I handle everything,
as a fragile train of thought
turned to sweetness on my tongue,
tasting what’s there before
I think it through enough to say it.
To be a conduit, my ropes are strong.
I carry what gets tied to them.
I sometimes feel my heart
synchronize with those that beat
to heroic deeds. But I also understand damages.
I’m not the victim, I’m more like the verdict.
With the horse, I had the sense of being smothered
which explains the rejection. And the dog
was orphaned which explains the sobbing.
A graduate of the U of Iowa Writers Workshop, Sheila Griffin (Llanas) has written many non-fiction books for children and teens. She is a visual artist and poet. She's had poems published in Agni, American Poetry Review, Jubilat, Poetry Northwest and others. Recent poems appear in Silver Birch Press, Spirit Lake Review and Concision Poetry Journal.
Sheila's Book Recommendations
Half-Life by Jane Ann Fuller
Late to the Search Party by Steven Machado Dawson
Willingly by Tess Gallagher