Poetry by Lisa Stice

​Alternative Comedy
 
A foodie, a feminazi, and a lipstick lesbian
walk into a fondue restaurant and sit down
to eat. That’s it. For like 45 minutes, they
skewer chunks of apple to dip in cheese,
chunks of chicken to dip in oil, then
strawberries in chocolate at the end, but
there is a story arc with the chef (if we can
call him that) practicing molecular
gastronomy in the basement. He is the MTV
generation, or at least what we expect
him to be with Billy Idol hair, Adam Ant
leather pants, Bette Davis eyes—the boy
who’s going to leave this McJob,
hack and slash his way into a new sincerity.

 


At Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah
 
We select our monuments.
You like the arches carved
with vines and thistles,
mausoleums with their copper
doors of eternal welcome,
columns like your own
little Parthenon,
                                  but I say
I am a poet and prefer
pensive woman in chair,
an angel with arms raised
into Spanish moss, or
the concise “Mother” “Father”
in practical black marble.

 


Cecilia and the Weasel
after Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine
 
There you are, over my shoulder,
in the shadows. I am oil on wood,
fluid and solid—real as blood
and bone. Forget me not and keep
me in the light. Find me on the hunt.

 


Brigid Brings the Spring
 
saint or goddess, it is of no matter to me
I planted lilies in my yard today:
tiger, stargazer, bell tower—pink, violet, orange
 
like the sky as the day grows old
and the sun makes its bed behind the earth
with me praying for light rain tomorrow

Bio: Lisa Stice is a poet/mother/military spouse who received a BA in English literature from Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) and an MFA in creative writing and literary arts from the University of Alaska Anchorage. While it is difficult to say where home is, she currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, daughter and dog. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of a poetry collection, Uniform (Aldrich Press, 2016). You can find out more about her and her publications at lisastice.wordpress.com and facebook.com/LisaSticePoet.

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