in the nows

Who rah! Who ray! for Won Ms. Shanna Compton, Won Down Spooky! winner of the Winnow Press Open Poetry Award!


And look ye here won of my favorites by the above famed poet! Violá formal dexterity combined with an irreverent impulse, combined into won helluva a whallop of a very fine sang indeed ye:


T H E   R E M A R R I E D A G A I N   S E S T I N A .
[with apologies to LaVerne Rose Compton Cocke Young Gigliotta Cocke]
BY SHANNA COMPTON
- - - -

At first, everything was lovely.
He courted her, fresh as a rose.
As a mate he seemed competent. 
Turns out, he was actually a cock.
But what the hell — she was still young,
the house was hers, the kids were good,

and the divorce was final. Good
riddance. Single again, lovely,
and witty, she'd give her whole young
life for someone better and rose
to the challenge of dating. Cock-
shy though willing and competent,

She tried again. A competent
grad student looked pretty damn good
to her, and honestly his cock
-sure future looked bright. Lovely
years lay ahead, she knew. Hopes rose
but as quickly fell through. Her young

children seemed suddenly not so young. 
She strived for motherly competence
and the kids bounced back fine. Roses
bloomed in the backyard and on Good
Friday gelatin glowed lovely
and orange in the fridge. "Two cocks

down, one to go," she joked. Her cock
-y new beau even laughed. He's young
at heart and tells me I'm lovely,
she thought. I should be competent
by now, enough to judge a good
man when I see one. Mawmaw Rose

would be proud. The subject arose
at last and he asked her. "You cock-
sucker," she said. "Why spoil a good
thing? If I were naïve and young
it might have worked. We're incompetent.
Wouldn't it have been so lovely?"

He rose. What should he say? Lovely
knowing you? Good lord, young love was
hard, old cock even less competent.


Cock-a-doodle-ye did it! Conpubelations Shanna!