INVERTED SYNTAX
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Human expression is never orderly.
​It is a space of disruption.To let ourselves express means to be vulnerable.​It means to invert syntax so as to articulate the visceral. 

Inverted Syntax
Online Issue Two

Picture
You and Your Prayers

Gods Copper

Raymond Luczak
every sunday at st michaels     all of us nine kids sat in the fourth pew     so i could lipread father frank better     yet his voice was so whispery     with no facial expression     after mass he always glanced down at me      & ignored me as he carried on with mom & dad      hed married them back in 57  i fidgeted with my siblings        waiting to pile into dads station wagon  &  go over                         to grandmas house on
​greenbush street     wed run pell mell      screaming & laughing through her house     maybe id bang on the upright piano      but always grandma stood as if an angel fronted with an apron    with the aura of sun through the pantry window            she picked out a shiny penny & pressed it onto
​my palm                 as she looked deep into my eyes                 she
somehow understood i didnt need words     just some unfiltered communication           her blue eyes looking into mine     with her liver spotted hand on mine     i lived for every sunday morning knowing               i did truly matter not
just another mouth to feed        not just a quiet boy waiting to say something          then she fell because of a stroke           in​that limbo atmosphere of silence & death     i prayed to god begging to bring her back               wasnt god supposed to love
me too     instead i burned with copper in my veins ​

​

The rest of Luczak's poems can be found in Inverted Syntax's Print Issue Two, coming February 2020.
​

Raymond Luczak is the author and editor of 22 books, including Flannelwood (Red Hen Press) and Lovejets: Queer Male Poets on 200 Years of Walt Whitman (Squares & Rebels). He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and online at raymondluczak.com .

​About the work: "As a deaf gay man raised in a hearing family of nine children, I have always felt like an orphan in their midst. I sought refuge in the woods across the street from his house, hoping that I'd find myself to be a wild creature in disguise. The shadow of St. Michael’s Church on the other side of the woods was much too strong. My poem “Gods Copper” depicts the first fracture of the many to come in my belief system as a budding Catholic."

The Art
PictureYou and Your Prayers by K Johnson Bowles, 14 x 14 inches, mixed media collage, 2019
K Johnson Bowles: "Giving voice to my experiences has always been a part of my artwork. In 2018, someone threatened to harm me. I’m not interested in illustrating or recreating what happened; I’m more interested in showing how the experience haunts me. During the last few years, I traveled a great deal for work and mostly alone. When I was finished with my work for the day, I visited museums, where I felt safe in strange cities. There, I used my iPhone to photograph details of paintings that expressed my thoughts related to safety and justice. These details are integral to my new body of work, Veronica’s Cloths."

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  • The Fissured Tongue Series
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 6
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 5
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 4
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 3
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 2
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 1
    • Online Issue One
    • Online Issue Two
  • Submission Guidelines
    • The Fissured Tongue Series Guide
    • POETRY BOOK CONTESTS
  • Poetry Contest Results
    • 2024 POETRY BOOK CONTESTS RESULTS
    • Sublingua 2023 Results
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  • The Art of the Postcard
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    • We Are All Artists Exhibit
      • Video Compilation FirehouseArt Center Postcard Exhibit
      • Firehouse Exhibitors 2022
        • Churnage FirehouseArt Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Daniel Staub Weinberg Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Genevieve Rose Barr Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Eva Schultz Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Samantha Malay Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • D Allen Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Hayley Harris Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Tony Peyser Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Sarah Santoni Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Julia Klatt Singer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Kathryn Kruse Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Meg Freer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Moira Walsh Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Staab Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Anne Swannell Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Laura Knott Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Jo Goren Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • CR Resetarits Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Sarah Ernestine Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Johnson Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Charles J. March III Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Emily Mosley Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Grace Desmarais Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Emily Vieweg Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Claire Lawrence Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Meca'Ayo Cole Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Andrea Rexilius Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Christian Garduno Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
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        • Glenn Thomas Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Claire Yspol Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Michael Thompson Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
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        • Christine Williams Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Beechem Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Imma Dunach Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Ginny Short Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Josh Lefkowitz Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Carolyn Adams Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
      • We Are All Artists Exhibit Guide
      • We are All Artists Submission Form Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit