Art: "He Was Already Gone" by Dominique Elliott
Poetry: "Drinking tea in the Mojave" by DeAnna Beachley
I sit with a mug of green tea before me
Huang Shan Mao Feng
inhale the scent
fresh
floral
needles peaked like
the Yellow Mountain
where it grows
sense the morning fog
heavy dew
that favors growth
an indulgence, I suppose
but one that brings me joy
how long will I be able to savor this
the effects of hotter summers
drier weather
deserts moving north and south
from the equator
Published February 9th 2023
DeAnna Beachley is a teacher, historian, poet, and essayist. Her poetry has appeared in Red Rock Review, Sandstone & Silver, Thimble, The Ekphrastic Review Challenge, Slant, Blue Earth Review, Gyroscope, Anatomy of an Essay, and forthcoming in two anthologies. When not teaching or writing, she enjoys hiking and bird watching.
Born in Brussels Belgium, Dominique Elliott is a multimedia artist and professor. Her work begins in reverse: with a title. Her interest in the interplays of words and image, in transpositions, translations, phenomenology, epistolary works, reverse ekphrastic practice, has crept into her artistic practice through documentaries, painting, and mixed media.