Mary McCall

The Woods of the Misses Lonelyhearts


They all come here when love has reached its end—
or when girls think it has. It’s here they give
themselves to one another as a friend.

Meet Beth: a quiet girl who likes to spend
her mornings writing all about a love
that lost its feathers—just wings, in the end.

Or Grace, explaining how one must transcend
betrayal: pour his promise through a sieve
to catch the lies that glitter gold. Her friend

Amanda, speaking colors, will contend
that kisses can be black, that to forgive
is always blue, and yellow marks the end.

And Willow, who can almost comprehend
the whispers from her namesake tree: to live,
to live, regardless of regret. A friend

indeed, absorbing her remorse to send
through branches towards the center of the grove;
although her questions have not reached an end,
nor her insisting, “He was my best friend.”


Mary McCall is a recent graduate from Fairfield University majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing. During her time at school, she started up a literary magazine called The Cream Filling Literary Magazine of which she was co-editor. This summer, she attended a graduate poetry class at the University of Iowa taught by Jane Mead.

Her poetry has appeared in Teen Ink, Poet’s Ink, Chantarelle’s Notebook, and The Storyteller.

Current Issue:
October 2010

Elizabeth Barbato
Melinda Blount
Rachel Bunting
Natalie Carpentieri
Taylor Copeland
Sarah Demers
James H. Duncan
Anthony Gayle
Taylor Graham
Jason Hardung
Paul Hostovsky
Mary McCall
Steve Meador
Corey Mesler
Bill Roberts
Josh Thompson
David Thornbrugh
Kelsey Upward
M. Travis Walsh
Ernest Williamson III

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