Tamara J. Madison


Chronicles 2023


Again they are banning
books, threatening

prosecution, hiding behind their illusions–
self-loathing they assign to others,

as if: trees do not remember the shame
of bodies swinging from their branches,

as if: wind does not recall the stench
of blood and flesh burning,

as if: dirt does not bear the weight
of concrete poured to smother bones,

as if: rivers do not grieve
loss after loss after

loss merciless,
strewn upon their waves

Tamara J. Madison is an MFA graduate of New England College and an Anaphora Arts Fellow. Her creative and critical work have been published in various anthologies, journals, and magazines, including Poetry International, World Literature Today, MER (Mom Egg Review), Tidal Basin Review, Web Del Sol Review of Books, and Tea Party Magazine. She is a contributing editor to aaduna, an online journal of words and images, and an English and Creative Writing instructor at Valencia College. Her most recent poetry collection is Threed, This Road Not Damascus (Trio House Press). She is the creator and host of BREAKDOWN: The Poet & The Poems, a poetry conversation series on YouTube.

ISSN 2472-338X
© 2023