by Patricia Bingham
upward mobility
sometimes you drift a little off the ground
not much, just enough to see the world
as a sudden stroke of luck
a tethering of the soul to where it matters
most, your quietly eradicated feet
a treasure trove, keeping whoever
happens upon it
yet now it seems that flying is like falling
only without that certain destiny of clay
and the creatures you can form of it
so you try to weigh down, thinking only
heavy thoughts, loosening every
lighthearted thing back in the mud:
the feathers around your neck
the charms, the bells, the riddle books
the joy of spring fields and the running
at last, of a lover from your touch
and yes, the gemstones that caught
the moon one night
when it was unaware
of how
many things contradict
themselves
so splendidly
Milla van der Have is a Dutch poet exploring the places where myth meets the surreal and the everyday begins to shift. Her poetry has crossed borders—from the US to Medellín—appearing in journals and festivals worldwide. She is the author of three chapbooks, most recently Ox and Mandarin | Wayfaring Strangers (2024). She lives in Utrecht, always inventing new ways for poetry to misbehave. https://www.instagram.com/millavanderhave/ https://www.facebook.com/MillavdHave
Patricia Bingham is a self-taught artist, originally from Chicago and currently living in Idaho. She realized early on that artists are compelled to take notice, and want to share what they see. She was a very annoying child wanting everyone to “look at this, look at that!” until she found a quieter way to make this happen, and that’s how her art journey began: First with photography, then (rather circuitously) to painting, collage, and assemblage in the form of colorful wooden boxes. She discovered that once a box is completed it needed to be filled. The box dictates what the contents might be, but it can go both ways: A series of photos might require a certain type of box or a box might require a certain kind of art, and thus more art needs to be created, and then more boxes, ad infinitum. What joy! She participates and sells her work locally and online, and is especially thrilled when her work finds its way into a literary magazine for that’s where it longs to be. Instagram.com/zoopsiart; Facebook.com/Zoospia.gallery; http://zoopsiart.com