stevieslaw

My poem, Camouflage, is in the current issue of Pennsylvania Poetic Voices. Here is the poem: CAMOUFLAGE In Khakis, they crawl along a field mowed clean by machine gun fire. From the air, they resemble a sea of beetles. Its hot, and they sweat through the heavy cloth now more black than green. What makes men brave? When the machine guns begin again, they rise as one and rush the…

My poem, Oasis, was just published by the Green Silk Journal. Here is the poem: Oasis      by Steven Deutsch Long before the specialty coffee shops, we congregated at Sam’s corner candy store. We brought our nickels and dimes for penny candy and leafed through the current Superman. On days of good fortune we’d sit at the counter and sip our malteds— nothing better. Sam had two…

My poem, the Art of the Deal, was just published by the New Verse News. Here is the poem: My cousin Bobby tells me the ultra rich are negotiating for more sunshine on their compounds. He reasons that will mean less sunshine for the rest of us. “They also want a full moon every night of the year.” Bobby’s the nicest guy, but thinks 2+2 is advanced math. He read about the sunlight in several…

I have two poems published by The RavensPerch today. Here is the first: My ancestors prayedtheir faithful hearts outin a little shulin the Steppes. Prayed to their godof gods in a languageas old as the civilizationthey hoped their prayers might heal. And still it snowed.Snow over the roofand through a windowthey could no longer close. It covered the floorand oaken bencheshiding the poverty of…

My poem, Bibliosmia, is in the current issue of PA”s Poetic Voices. Here is the poem: BIBLIOSMIA That groggy MondaymorningI headed downstairs to my library to check a passagefrom The Good SoldierI had dreamt of that night.Halfway downI remembered my library had beendismantledand carried away in custom cardboard cartons,courtesy of U-Haul.In the library there was nothingbut empty…

Desperado You better letSomebody love youBefore it’s too late. The Eagles. I heard you’reworking constructionin Wyoming,my brother, my friend. Living out of Dad’stattered suitcasein some crappy moteloff Interstate 80– the highway to heaven.I suppose you’ll do what damageyou can thereand leave. Sis often saysyou are four parts charmand one part cruelty.How the women loved you.I don’t…

My poem, Love Steve, was just published by The Green Silk Journal. Here is the poem: Love, Steve That old phototook my breath away.How had I misplacedthe memory?Did you? It wasforty years ago.The gentlest June—the sea, the sand, the sunon a tiny island off the coast of Maine,where the whole clanstayed in a ramshackleshack with uncertain plumbingthat must have slept a dozen. Remember how it…

My poem, Graveyard, was just published by Persephone Literary Magazine. Here is the poem: Graveyard They laid it out on a risetoo steep for draft horses.It’s a lonely spot—but aren’t they all. Headstones scatteredover the two acreslike chess piecesplaced by a child who barely knowsthe game.The oldestfrom 1828 is worn and blackenedby Pennsylvania winters.But the gravesare well cared for. We…

My poem, Boketto, was just published by the Orange Rose Lit Magazine. Here is the poem: Boketto Sleepless once againI usethe Sturgeon Moon to pick my waythrough a landscape,strewn with boulders that overlooks the sea.I head for one called Poseidon’s Throneso I might rule the waves, but I’ve caught the seaat turn of tideand for a short while time stands still,and I stareat nothing at all.

My poem, After, was just published by Burningword Literary Journal. Here is the poems. After, we tookthe long wayhome. As if sucha simple actmight flummox fate. We area good people.We bury our dead and helpthe maimedto cross the road. Yet the imagepersists.One careless step alongthe poorlycobbled avenue, and Atropossnipsthe thread.

Snow this morning.Flakes as bigas oak leaves flutterin the eddying air,as if their appointmentwith the groundmight wait.I watch themfrom a windowthat overlooksa small porchheavy withgarden tools—artifactsfrom a forgotten season.I sip a third cup,warm in the warm houseand curl upin my easy chair—looking no farther aheadthan lunch.

From the Editor of Clackamas Literary Review. Really cool. How do you go from a student-run lit. mag. to a national music prize? In just five easy steps: Step 1: A poet submits his work. In September of 2022, Steve Deutsch submitted his poem, “Looking for America,” for consideration of publication in volume XXVII of the Clackamas Literary Review (CLR). Steve is the poetry editor of Centered…

My poem, Beyond Wealth, was published today by OneArt. Here is the poem: Beyond Wealth On the deserted boardwalk at Coney Island, just before a storm roared in, gray-black clouds peeked over the Ferris Wheel— waves strained the imagination. On our Sunday holidays, my dad would eat clams on the half shell. He seemed so delighted by his little routine— lemon, hot sauce, slurp. The…

My Poem, Last Winter is in Issue 30 of MacQueen’s Quinterly. Here is the poem: Last Winter False spring today. A mild breeze fans the bare trees as if in rehearsal. I walk along the riverbank lost in thought. It has been a hard winter— like living inside an ice cave with a constant gray sky that lodged in my bones. And for friends on the edge, a final fall into that oblivion where…

Here is the third of my published poems by The Write Launch: Here is the third of my published poems by The Write Launch: What the Body RemembersIt grew back straight and softwith the texture ofmulberry silk. Surreptitiously, I searched old picturesto test my memory—those orchestrated blackand whites of me at 2 or 3 or 4, withthat “say cheese” smile.And Ihad to admit I once again had the…

I had two poems published in the current edition of The Write Launch. Here is the second: Fine Art After six generations in my wife’s family,we were selling the house,and I was assigned to clean the attic—told not to get distracted. By what, I thought?Comic books from the ‘30s?Old baseball cards?But I stuck to it. Towards the backthere was an ancient, ornate trunk—so large I wonderedhow it…

I have three poems in the current issue of The Write Launch. Here is the first: A Turn Around Town I take the cobbled path through townthat I have walked for years.The streets are for the wary—ice strewn here and thereas if they had tiredof the nagging shovels.The air stillwith the silence of February. I have lived here so many yearsyou’d think I’d havea story to sharefor every building, every…