Silhouettes watch neon street in stark relief
sexing sticking to them in humid night
like a cocktail without focus sweats until
it burns off potency and becomes
just a color.
He towers over her in his rigidity
the lines of control are taut like waxed instrument
unsaid things gather at the edges and she
is not panting with pleasure, instead
the unobserved attention to a blinking sign
almost at the bottom of the wet street
almost out of sight with rolling fog fingering
cement in its determined passage
slurping at dark corners, absorbing light.
Even without glasses on, discarded in her parody
of perfection, her squint makes out
the on-off-on-off warm red arrow pointing
insistently, beyond him, if it had a voice
she thinks it would say
GET OUT NOW.
Born in Europe, Candice Louisa Daquin is of Sephardi French/ Egyptian descent. Daquin was the Publishing Director at the U.S. Embassy (London) before becoming a Psychotherapist. Daquin is Senior Editor at Indie Blu(e) Publishing, a feminist micro-press and Editorial Partner with Raw Earth Ink. She’s also Writer-in-Residence for Borderless Journal, Editor of Poetry & Art for The Pine Cone Review and Poetry Editor for Parcham Literary Magazine. Daquin’s own poetic work takes its form from the confessional women poets of the 20th century as well as queer authors writing from the 1950’s onward. Her career(s) teaching critical thinking and practicing as a psychotherapist have heavily influenced her writing. As a queer woman of mixed ethnicity and passionate feminist beliefs concerning equality, Daquin’s poetry is her body of evidence.
In honor of its 5th anniversary, Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless are teaming up this November to sponsor a series of 30 daily creativity prompts, comprised of the titles of our 25 published books and four upcoming titles, along with a couple fun phrases to round it out. We think our book titles are pretty damn cool and we hope they spark your creativity. You are welcome to respond to as many that inspire you.
There is only one rule to the prompt challenge: the book title or phrase should serve as the title of your piece OR all the words in the title should be integrated into your piece somehow.
Note: Some of IB books have fabulous subtitles. Want an extra challenge? Try integrating the subtitle into your response
It is our honor and pleasure to publish your prompt responses on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless . We welcome poetry, prose, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and high-res original art inspired by the prompts.
Writing can be submitted in the body of the email or as a separate Word document or PDF
If you are submitting writing, please include a suggested image to accompany your work. Unsplash and Pixabay are two of our favorite sites for royalty-free images.
Your email should include your name EXACTLY as you want it to appear on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless, a short biography, and any links you want shared.
Softly Glowing Exit Signs is a photo album of a life lived intensely and painfully, but really lived, and survived. As with any heroine, Georgia Park is who we look for at the end, walking through that fire, not intact, not okay, but absolutely capable of going on. Georgia Park is a woman growing up through these pages, into a survivor, someone you want to know because she’s damn clever, fiendishly smart, and desperately real. She doesn’t try to be cool or sexy, she’s so beyond the usual cults and tropes, her maturity lies in her willingness to tell it as it is.
“The takeaway from reading Softly Glowing Exit Signs, is that the writing is real life, and that overall poetry is real life, and that real life can be measured and unmasked within writing itself. When reading Softly Glowing Exit Signs I felt I was left in a room with Georgia Park, and she is telling me everything with a vulnerability she has not shown many people. It left me needing to read more, or sit and listen because anything else would be unjust.
Conclusively, Softly Glowing Exit Signs feels exactly like spending hours, being up all night, with a person bearing their soul, to which all you can be is silent, and listen, and all you can say is, “Thanks for sharing all of this with me.”
–Timothy Gager
“You will quickly find when you get to the end of the first prose piece in this book, that Park is serving the imagery of her work without warning labels or protective coatings. Raw and visceral are the best words to describe how she delivers her amazing talent in Softly Glowing Exit Signs and it packs a very powerful punch early out of the gate. . .
–Eric Syrdal, Pantheon
“Georgia Park is a natural at what she does, she breathes words out, right into your face. “
–Candice Louisa Daquin, Pinch the Lock
To purchase Softly Glowing Exit Signs, click here.
Publication Date: March 7, 2020
ISBN-13: 978-1951724023
Georgia Park is the author of Quit Your Job and Become a Poet (Out of Spite) and Softly Glowing Exit Signs. Her work has been featured in several books and literary magazines, and she has been asked to speak on the subject of creative writing at several educational institutions, most recently Boston University.
Softly Glowing Exit Signs explores her wild romp from dysfunctional childhood to semi-functional adulthood.
most men
don’t realize
that women
are a force of nature
simply acting
in a more civilized manner
in order to survive
while deep in their hearts
women are one with the earth
wild
untamable
and feral
it’s what they are
and there is nothing
men can ever do
to change that
I’m an artist, a writer, a vegetarian, an animal rights activist, and quite a few other things as well. I love books, cats, philosophy, good conversation, Chicago and the arts. So my blog is full of bits and pieces but it’s the bits and pieces that make life interesting to me. You can read more of my writing at Rethinking Life
We, the dogs and I,
stopped and watched
a mockingbird chase a hawk
away from her nest.
She did not stop.
She did not hesitate.
Her bravery knew no limits
against a formidable enemy.
A mockingbird against a hawk,
really no question as to who would win
if it had not been for
the bravery of motherhood—
A force of nature,
nothing can withstand.
Image courtesy of Pinterest
Annette Kalandros, a retired teacher, living in New Mexico, is honored to have work featured in the following collections: As the World Burns: Writers and Artists Reflect on a World Gone Mad. Through The Looking Glass: Reflecting on Madness and Chaos Within. The Pinecone Review: Be Proud with Pride Edition and Survival Edition. Women Speak: The Women of Appalachia Project. SETU International Magazine and Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women. Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology. My debut collection is The Gift of Mercy.
In honor of its 5th anniversary, Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless are teaming up this November to sponsor a series of 30 daily creativity prompts, comprised of the titles of our 25 published books and four upcoming titles, along with a couple fun phrases to round it out. We think our book titles are pretty damn cool and we hope they spark your creativity. You are welcome to respond to as many that inspire you.
There is only one rule to the prompt challenge: the book title or phrase should serve as the title of your piece OR all the words in the title should be integrated into your piece somehow.
Note: Some of IB books have fabulous subtitles. Want an extra challenge? Try integrating the subtitle into your response
It is our honor and pleasure to publish your prompt responses on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless . We welcome poetry, prose, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and high-res original art inspired by the prompts.
Writing can be submitted in the body of the email or as a separate Word document or PDF
If you are submitting writing, please include a suggested image to accompany your work. Unsplash and Pixabay are two of our favorite sites for royalty-free images.
Your email should include your name EXACTLY as you want it to appear on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless, a short biography, and any links you want shared.
Indie Blu(e) Publishing 