Author: Amy Souza

10 Mar

KJ Hannah Greenberg
and Cathy Stevens Pratt

KJ Hannah Greenberg
and Cathy Stevens Pratt

Cathy Stevens Pratt Inspiration piece If You Call Me Again By KJ Hannah Greenberg Response “If you call me again, I will report you,” I say with impatience, as I …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 47
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and Cathy Stevens Pratt
10 Mar

Cathy Stevens Pratt
and KJ Hannah Greenberg

Cathy Stevens Pratt
and KJ Hannah Greenberg

Cathy Stevens Pratt Response Herr Mittemeister By KJ Hannah Greenberg Inspiration piece A bird whistles. Herr Herman Mittemeister hums an accompaniment. His voice shines. Likewise, his hair and nails are neatly …

 
By Amy Souza
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and KJ Hannah Greenberg
05 Dec

Jenny Forrester and Jennifer Fendya

Jenny Forrester and Jennifer Fendya

Jennifer Fendya “Fire Department” Inspiration piece Jenny Forrester Response My capacity for self-destruction has been breathtaking. I’ve found people who’ve helped me destroy myself, people with destructive ideas, violent behavior, …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 46
Comments: 1
05 Dec

Jennifer Fendya and Jenny Forrester

Jennifer Fendya and Jenny Forrester

Jennifer Fendya “Eat My Words” Response Jenny Forrester Inspiration piece I see you spreading bad news, misinformation, lies, because it’s cool to spread bad news, misinformation, and lies. You’re a …

 
By Amy Souza
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05 Dec

Jewel Beth Davis
and Margi Smith

Jewel Beth Davis
and Margi Smith

Margi Smith Inspiration piece Working the Magic By Jewel Beth Davis Response Sylvester stood around a large table made of waterlilies and pearls many, many leagues under the ocean surrounded …

 
By Amy Souza
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Comments: 1
05 Dec

Matthew Levine and
Robert Haydon Jones

Matthew Levine and
Robert Haydon Jones

Matthew Levine “Whispering Pines” Response The Best Christmas Tree Ever By Robert Haydon Jones Inspiration piece When Jimmy O’Hara decided on his Christmas tree at the outdoor lot at Home Depot, …

 
By Amy Souza
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Robert Haydon Jones
05 Dec

Robert Haydon Jones
and Matthew Levine

Robert Haydon Jones
and Matthew Levine

Matthew Levine “Longshore, late in the season at 17” Inspiration piece Golf By His Lonesome By Robert Haydon Jones Response Rob knew this golf course very well. It was close to …

 
By Amy Souza
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Comments: 2
05 Dec

Sarah Priestman and Marisa Bevington

Sarah Priestman and Marisa Bevington

Marisa Bevington Inspiration piece Resolute By Sarah Priestman Response She’d waited before. Waited outside shul for her father, who’d refused to be rushed since racing from his burning Lithuanian village. …

 
By Amy Souza
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Comments: 1
05 Dec

Marisa Bevington and Sarah Priestman

Marisa Bevington and Sarah Priestman

Marisa Bevington Response A Visit from Mom By Sarah Priestman Inspiration piece It’s an overcast Sunday; more Edinburgh than Arlington on what should be a sunny Memorial Day weekend. I …

 
By Amy Souza
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05 Dec

Mary Lee Hahn
and Victoria Nessen

Mary Lee Hahn
and Victoria Nessen

Victoria Nessen “Finding Your Way” Inspiration piece Six Weeks One Summer By Mary Lee Hahn Response 1985 After the first job, before the second degree. Between. Blue Highways South — tobacco fields West — Navajo Nation North — …

 
By Amy Souza
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and Victoria Nessen
04 Dec

Amy Souza and
Kathleen Finn Jordan

Amy Souza and
Kathleen Finn Jordan

Amy Souza “Trail Closed” Response Covidian Dreams By Kathleen Finn Jordan Inspiration piece As the isolation and distancing young tree like grows ……and burgeons spitting flowers of solitary time into lysoled air The …

 
By Amy Souza
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Kathleen Finn Jordan
28 Sep

Colleen Anderson and Dominic Mazzilli

Colleen Anderson and Dominic Mazzilli

Colleen Anderson Response Market Street By Dominic Mazzilli Inspiration piece Market Street. The pulsating heart of town throbbed with wealth and an everlasting flow of people in, but not necessarily …

 
By Amy Souza
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20 Sep

Betty Nichols and Jenny Forrester

Betty Nichols and Jenny Forrester

Betty Nichols Response Cherish By Jenny Forrester Inspiration piece I cherish the Bluebird of My Happiness. Beyond myself and even beyond The River, The Writing, The Story of My Story. …

 
By Amy Souza
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20 Sep

Jenny Forrester and Betty Nichols

Jenny Forrester and Betty Nichols

Betty Nichols Inspiration piece I Am Six Souls By Jenny Forrester Response I’m paper to your tree, grass to your leaves, monster to your color, lines and curves and blue. …

 
By Amy Souza
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04 Sep

Amy Souza and Donna JT Smith

Amy Souza and Donna JT Smith

Donna JT Smith Inspiration piece But Salt Water By Amy Souza Response Where salted wind ruffles seagrass And rose hips line a hot sand path The bridge is open means open for …

 
By Amy Souza
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01 Jun

Shalini Rana and Diane Mayr

Shalini Rana and Diane Mayr

Diane Mayr “Risible” Inspiration piece Failing Sunburst By Shalini Rana Response The first laugh I loved galloped in a broken body: Brother’s silent open-mouthed grin, ready to swallow me whole in a sea of small …

 
By Amy Souza
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01 Jun

KJ Hannah Greenberg
and Seth Leamer

KJ Hannah Greenberg
and Seth Leamer

Seth Leamer Inspiration piece Kaorog’s Companion By KJ Hannah Greenberg Response Kaorog regarded his tentacles. They were turning purple. Whereas that hue was lovely, it was, simultaneously, an indicator of …

 
By Amy Souza
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and Seth Leamer
31 May

Dominic Mazzilli and Amy Souza

Dominic Mazzilli and Amy Souza

Amy Souza Inspiration piece Dominic Mazzilli Response Mad, Crazed, Insane, a hundred whispers surround the painter, but he does not listen, there is no time. He dashes and rubs …

 
By Amy Souza
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31 May

Amy Souza and Dominic Mazzilli

Amy Souza and Dominic Mazzilli

Amy Souza Response Prologue By Dominic Mazzilli Inspiration piece “The Tinkerer made the Irons, at least, that’s what everyone says, but I’d reckon it’s the Irons that made the Tinkerer.” …

 
By Amy Souza
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09 Mar

Anya Mayer and Amy Souza

Anya Mayer and Amy Souza

Anya Mayer Response You’re tough // You can handle it By Amy Souza Inspiration piece Blackberry brambles are impossible to kill But the fruit they bear hangs tender on the vine You’re tough someone told …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 43
Comments: 1
09 Mar

Jennifer Fendya and
Jenny Forrester

Jennifer Fendya and
Jenny Forrester

Jennifer Fendya “Jenny con mala“ Response Jenny Forrester Inspiration piece “Jimmy Si Malo” is at the mic. Gen-X. Claims he’s a millennial. White. CIS man. He says, “The black man on …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 43
Comments: 1
09 Mar

Amy Souza and Anya Mayer

Amy Souza and Anya Mayer

Anya Mayer Inspiration Piece Something Else By Amy Souza Response We used to be something else Jagged edges tucked together Beauty in the wear I dreamed of more But needed to survive When you folded …

 
By Amy Souza
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09 Mar

Amy Souza and
Lisa Kilhefner

Amy Souza and
Lisa Kilhefner

Lisa Kilhefner Inspiration Piece One Time or Another By Amy Souza Response Feathered energy Whirlwind of white sky Listen for what the page wants And then oblige What wasn’t there now exists Lonely anger, yellow …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 43
Comments: 1
09 Mar

Channie Greenberg
and Ash Martins

Channie Greenberg
and Ash Martins

Channie Greenberg Response Final Call By Ash Martins Inspiration piece “Oh, isn’t it divine?” Beatriz queried, her eyes bright as always, despite the perilous finality before them. “Why yes, yes it’s …

 
By Amy Souza
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and Ash Martins
09 Mar

Jenny Forrester
and Jennifer Fendya

Jenny Forrester
and Jennifer Fendya

Jennifer Fendya “And then…” Inspiration piece Jenny Forrester Response She had her way with me in ways I didn’t want but agreed to via silence and acceptance. Acquiescences. Resignations. You know. You’ve …

 
By Amy Souza
Filed under: SPARK 43
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and Jennifer Fendya