I say,

I have infections in my ears

The Dr looks and says,

You have infections in your ears, here ya go I’ll write some prescriptions and just take this medicine you’ll be okay

I say, my body hurts all day every day

and my soul hurts all day every day

and I feel like maybe,

could it be possible to say,

I am here but I should be finding a hole to lie down in, or a furnace to obliterate my bones to ash and smoke

Is it possible that I’m alive but I would feel better dead?

The Dr says,

I want you to take these pills and they might help and they might help and they might help

and maybe they’ll make you feel suicidal

And I ask, how will I know if they’re making me feel suicidal, I’ve been feeling suicidal and I’ve been fighting to…

I don’t think you want to know me

like you say you do

I don’t think you want to know how

my hips ache with the weight

of women crumbling

under angry men

and bridges painted whiter

than any Holy Spirit

asked them to be

I walk with the stumbling grace

of a wounded soul stretched

and ready to burst

against the aftershocks

I have placed in my pockets

I don’t think you want to know me

I think you want to duck and jive

and convince the women

in my pockets to sidle up

under neon lights and press

their hips against smudged rails

while they powder their noses

and sit pretty until they are asked

to dance or you get five fingers in

and begin telling the story about the time

you watched your mother burn.

You will never find salvation here,

but I like the way you…

Amazing Grace! How deaf—
silence,
wet wool wrapped ‘round
my head.
I’ve been saved, but not by you.

Jesus is just alright—
won’t sleep over,
he complains of bellyaches and
flies home early.
Maybe my snacks are too bitter tasting.
I’ve given up sweet wine.

My blessings are colored black and blue;
they come with the taste of dirt,
and the blood of gnashing teeth.
My blessings sing like a choir of wolves—
alive inside my rib cage,
I’ve saved myself.

---

Kindra M. Austin is a very sweary indie author and editor from mid-Michigan (you can find her books here). She’s also the co-founder of Blank Paper Press, a founding member of Indie Blu(e) Publishing, founder of publishing imprint, One for Sorrow, and a writer/managing editor at Blood into Ink, and Whisper and the Roar. Austin cut her poetry teeth in April, 2016, and joined the Sudden Denouement Literary…

We at Sudden Denouement Literary Collective are ridiculously proud, and entirely honoured, to introduce all of you (who may have been living under a rock) to Jason Kynge, and we are thrilled to welcome him into the Sudden Denouement Literary Collective.

Jason Kynge is a poet, a Viking, a wanderer and a writer; he is a lost soul searching for truth and for love, and the answers we all seek during these turbulent times in our ugly world. Jason Kynge is the ringer of truth in a hall of bells struck by the mighty. Never one to mince words, Kynge’s work takes an axe to every modern day “contemporary poet” who flood the social media landscape with cries of “love her wild” and “broken is beautiful”, and he leaves them all bleeding in the wake of his shadow. If you haven’t read Jason Kynge, buckle up enjoy the ride; you…

The Contest is officially open!

Since its inception in 2016, The Sudden Denouement Literary Collective has had the privilege of featuring some of today’s most fearless writers. With members that span the globe and editors who share a passion for pushing boundaries, we as a collective have enjoyed reading, promoting, and watching the success of each individual artist as they have grown in their craft and left their mark upon the literary world.

Now, as writers and readers, editors and fans, we at Sudden Denouement Literary Collective are ecstatic to open up the doors to our outstanding, award winning collective, and invite you all in to pull up a chair and tell us your stories.

The Sudden Denouement Literary Collective, and Sudden Denouement Publishing, are pleased to dip our toes into the waters of great literary contests and announce our first ever short story literary prize with a call for…