7 a.m. by Peggy Carter

the sun’s coming up over
an odd angle
funny I never saw
how still the air is
even the morning birdsong
the trees hang without purpose
why am I

awake too soon




Peggy Carter has been writing since 2006, and takes workshops. Her mentors include Brendan Constantine, Tresha Haefner, and Kelly Grace Thomas. Peggy's style is free verse and her life has provided inspiration. Her work has appeared in The Stray Branch, Fourth & Sycamore, Bellowing Ark and Decanto.

Garden of Eden by Peggy Carter

The sun was hot that day – 
boiling out of a blue sky; no clouds survived

But we did.

I don’t even remember how we got there –
the open field, so isolated – 
a beautiful view, not that we saw it – 
a few trees as witness – 
endless grass – 
and the mountains, crisp and clear, for backdrop – 

His blue eyes weren’t the only thing to pierce me – 
a handful of flesh on the grass – 

I heard the voices of other lovers, past and future – 

That eden was ours.

As the sun burned through, we were branded – 

Peggy Carter came late in her life to poetry. She started writing in her early 60's and has been consumed with it ever since. Peggy has taken one college class in poetry. She's been taught by Brendan Constantine and Tresha Faye Haefner. Tobi Cogswell has also been influential. Peggy's had the good fortune to have been published in the Bellowing Ark, Decanto, The Stray Branch and Red Fez. She published a chapbook, Reach, in 2013.