Bob Heman | ORANGE (I) & (II)

ORANGE (I)

We are told that oranges are orange, by definition. No other is defined in this way. We cannot hold a blue or a purple or a red or a brown in our hands. We cannot open anything but an orange to find more of it hiding inside.

ORANGE (II)

The word unfolds itself across the page, allowing the meaning that is revealed to spill over the edges into your life. In this way the difference between “orange” (the color) and “orange” (the fruit) is able to be comprehended, and to become part of the room you will henceforth inhabit.

Bob Heman (Photo by Lori Rogers)

Bob Heman’s words have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Italian and Hungarian. His prose poem “Perfect” is included in A Cast-Iron Aeroplane That Can Actually Fly: Commentaries from 80 Contemporary American Poets on Their Prose Poetry (MadHat Press, 2019). His essay, “Dreaming for Caresse,” is included in Seeing with Eyes Closed: The Prose Poems of Harry Crosby (Quale Press, 2019), which also features one of his collages on the cover.

Diane Stiglich | Elusive Orange

Elusive Orange

It is the orange
that is missing
in the traffic light
sequence
at every corner.

It is the orange
in the flame
that artists depict
but you never
really see.

It is the orange
glowing gourds
of Samhain
where spirits abide
and hold my hand.


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Diane Stiglich earned her BA from the University of Texas at Dallas and her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Her paintings have been exhibited in numerous shows throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Her debut fiction Have You Seen CindySleigh? was published in 2016 by Poets Wear Prada.  She lives in Hoboken, where she owns the Luna Rosa Home store. Diane negotiates life between the art studio, martial arts classes, the store, the town, and home — and she likes to write about them all. She is currently working on a collection of micro fiction, poems, and other inkings, titled Fragments.