Stephanie Kemp

Menage a Trois


"Nothing good can come of it."
That was his emphatic opinion
Yet I wondered why I felt the presence of another
Keeping us distant
His ex-fiancée, like a pane of glass that I could see through,
But would have to walk around each time I wanted to connect
Me vying for his attention, though she had moved on 3 years ago
The imprint of her body lay between us
He was right
Nothing good could come of it
3 bodies where only 2 should have been





Pieces Of April

I remember the last time our lips spoke.
Posted in a parking lot,
early morning April exchanging warm breaths.
My flavor left to linger on the tip of your taste buds.
Loving the way we were entangled with such urgency
as if the surges we felt hormonally
were the bare necessities of our very existence,
as if there was no resistance to the persistent weight
of your body pressed against mine.
Rewinding time counter clockwise
With the motion of our tongues to stall the sunrise.
Your eyes didn't tell me that we would never have this moment again,
that this beginning was also an end,
or that your kiss was only lending itself to mine
for a few hours of that fleeting day.
So I drove away never knowing tomorrow.
The sensation of borrowed kisses left as residue on my heart.
A reminder of the start of a romance that would never be completed.
Pieces of April scattered across my lips.


Stephanie Kemp is a 30 something poet originally from Seattle, Washington. She now lives in Aurora, Colorado where she works for city government. In her spare time, she is working on her first book of poetry. She has been published (or will be published) in Black Diaspora Magazine ,Poetry Motel, The Armchair Aesthete, Foliate Oak, Flutter, Struggle, Remark, The Persistent Mirage, Love's Chance, and other publications.

 Current Issue:
July 2007

Annabelle Butterworth
Patricia Cook
Joshua Cristiano
Michael Estabrook
Anthony Gee
Taylor Graham
Michael Lee Johnson
Jerry Judge
Stephanie Kemp
Michael Keshigian
Stephanie Kjaerbaek
Brian Mayer
Steve Meador
Jessica Sidler
Karla Ungurean

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