The stars outside drink in
the Friday night and this Kansas
winter-cold glass—frothing
with dense foam that just kisses
both lemon wedges—
sweats like lovers down
to the waxed table and coaster and
the dim bar lights filter through ale that
glows like time-frozen sap to amber,
bronzed mosquitos caught mid-buzz.
Citrus and hops drift
behind the music,
up to my thirsty face,
and why the hell not?
~ Cody Shrumm
Cody Shrum is a second-year graduate student at Pittsburg State University, studying Creative Writing with an emphasis in fiction. Cody plans to pursue his MFA degree next fall—an adventure he will embark on with his wife, Kylee, and their two dogs, Zoey and Zeus.
Guest Editor Thomas Reynolds is an associate English professor at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, and has published poems in various print and online journals, including New Delta Review, Alabama Literary Review, Aethlon-The Journal of Sport Literature, The MacGuffin, Flint Hills Review, and Prairie Poetry. Woodley Press of Washburn University published his poetry collection Ghost Town Almanac in 2008. His chapbook The Kansas Hermit Poems was published in 2013, and his sports-themed chapbook Small Town Rodeos was published by Spartan Press in 2016.
The Coop: A Poetry Cooperative 