Sunday poetry: "Spectator at the Balloon Launch, 1783"

My newest poem in the Journal of Radical Wonder is "Spectator at the Balloon Launch, 1783," another piece from my manuscript in progress. Flight and innovation are recurring themes throughout the collection, and this one is based on the first hot air balloon voyage, for which scientists sent a sheep, a duck, and a rooster into the air over Versailles, France. As brave as humans can be, we sometimes let another species test the air for us.

Here are two other recent noteworthy pieces in the Journal:

I have read many ekphrastic poems (those inspired by visual art) over the years, but Robbi Nester did a unique twist with "The Missing Sense," which imagines the contents of a missing painting by Rembrandt. In 1624-25, the artist created five paintings that each depict one of the senses, and the fifth one (taste) has since disappeared. There is not even a written description of what it shows, so Robbi paints a scene of her own. An elderly patient grimaces at soup, while a small child gnaws on bread: "I share his pleasure, / savoring the thought that an artifact of the imagination / could reach us through the senses, make us dream." Check your attic for Rembrandt's actual painting, but I will accept Robbi's vision in the meantime.

John Brantingham, the magazine's co-editor, posted a short but profound essay titled "Ambling," in which he opens up about a recently diagnosed heart condition and how it's forced him to adjust his lifestyle, whether by embracing vegan food or simply by slowing down and no longer pretending to be 20 years old. Long ago, Emily Dickinson wrote about how Death was kind to stop for her and relieve her of her responsibilities. In a similar vein, John writes here, "I think about what a blessing it is to have a heart defect and to listen to its message." Feel better, John. May you have many years of ambling ahead.