swifts  &  s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings

five collaborations
Stacey Allam & John M. Bennett

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Mist

Shards of a three
pronged crayon adorn
her hair a cloud
a puff without a candy stick
just hair scattered in wind
scrub brush singing in fog

Dime

Running past the windows
swoosh of pant legs
and a falling brick
that didn’t skip rope
nor drink the splashed
soup’s split pea splat
glass speeds across the floor
stopping on a dime

Hand Wheels

She made wheels
in the slats of cookies
and breaks in the
flapping hands
of judo chops

Sardines

The shoney sardines
of an animated rock band
are dripping off the list
of stringy hairs
and filling my shoes with water

Quetzalcoatl

The corn husk
peeled behind the toe
stuck in a shoelace
with strands of
twist ties
I thought of feet
and drifting pain
as feathers
rub on pins
thinking of a snake
that pirouettes

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Stacey Allam is originally from Rego Park, Queens, New York, but has resided in Brooklyn for many years. She has been writing poetry most of her life.

John M. Bennett has published, exhibited and performed his word art worldwide. He was editor and publisher of LOST AND FOUND TIMES (1975-2005), and is Founding Curator of the Avant Writing Collection at The Ohio State University Libraries.  His work, publications, and papers are collected in several major institutions, including Washington University (St. Louis), SUNY Buffalo, The Ohio State University, The Museum of Modern Art, and other major libraries. Among his latest books are The World of Burning, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2017; Poemas visuales, con movimientos con ruidos con combinaciones (with Osvaldo Cibils), Deep White Sound, 2017; Olas Cursis, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2018, Dropped in the Dark Box, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2019, Leg Mist, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2019, OJIJETE, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2019, Endname, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2020, Is Knot, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2021, Six Months Hacking, Or, Six Years Hacking Six Months Aint No Sentence (with Jim Leftwich), Luna Bisonte Prods, 2021, Formatio Est, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2022, ANHYDRIDE, Luna Bisonte Prods, 2022, Illegible, Redfoxpress, 2022.