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Travis Stephens

Name O Names

​I have thought some names don't fit and could use revision; other words
are ill suited and as disappointing as your first anchovy.
Why hippopotamus? That should be a flower.
Who would ever eat an artichoke and not risk a Heimlich?
Why not order, instead, a steaming bowl of Mesopotamia?
Plutonium for two, a pot of lamb, fresh crop of harlequin.
Look around at names ill-suited: cute little hand grenade.
That bird? Rapier on the wing.
A flock of filibusters all in a row.
Bulbs for the rare euphonious infantile, planted in the spring.
Jigging for snoqualmie.
A brace of baptist hen.
Nice crop of harquebus among the rodent trees.
Hope for a return to Seaborgium, in the spring.
Other words are adequate and more:
a tank is best left alone; beware the Kalashnikov.
Suffer from pterodactyl or bad Sagittarius.
I lay awake at night with the dread of metastatic calculus.
Worse of all the I am afflicted with parting,
disenfranchisement and separation. Pale, unfit
words for you, lover, now
Gone.

Biography

Picture
Travis Stephens is a tugboat captain who resides with his family in California. A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, recent credits include: Dime Show Review, Gyroscope Review, 2River, Sheila-Na-Gig, From the Depths, Miletus, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.
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  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors List
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    • Contact
  • Press
  • Issues
    • Issue 49
    • Issue 48
    • Issue 47
    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions