2020
Latest Publications
Punchline https://sheilanagigblog.com/volume-5-1-fall-2020-the-poets/betsy-mars/
Alcohol or Xanax to Sleep http://heroinchic.weebly.com/blog/alcohol-or-xanaxtm-to-sleep-by-betsy-mars?fbclid=IwAR3VBr4Pwb-HUOnwisRuQNyCJZDpJly9BHWjSysOYGuZHW3KJOuMd5Hr8Ho
Blanch http://www.pikerpress.com/article.php?aID=8040
Für die kinder https://www.poeticamagazine.com/betsy-mars?fbclid=IwAR3AsqY7rc3l5WzqIagG7vpwwEd4EI9r99uJCFONSZRtEAmTM4p
Parallax View and Forbidden Fruit http://www.verse-virtual.org/2020/August/betsy-mars-2020-august.html?fbclid=IwAR3Zr6UPba6TtzKjOzitb5llQ0Iwffyesi1t2Gjj9bkdizUZJwRMvgL4lMY
Cringe-watching http://www.pikerpress.com/article.php?aID=8040&fbclid=IwAR3PLwZjXBrW3euzXX9mFFF9fIW5P8IiFwXxRq%C2%A0
Reparations http://www.verse-virtual.org/2020/June/betsy-mars-2020-june.html
Parable of the Vinegar and three other poems https://liveencounters.net/le-poetry-writing-2020/06-june-pw-2020/betsy-mars-the-parable-of-the-vinegar/
Tidal Stirrings https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2020/05/25/tidal-stirrings-by-betsy-mars-wearing-a-mask-series/
March 2020
August 2018
Spring 2018
Recent publications include the following works found at these links:
http://www.ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-review/flash-dance-by-betsy-mars
http://www.praxismagonline.com/new-pamplona-betsy-mars/
http://www.ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-review/earth-angels-by-betsy-mars
Betsy-Mars
Lunch in the Ivory Tower by Betsy Mars (MY FIRST JOB Poetry and Prose Series)
Thank you to Silver Birch for another inspiring prompt and for publishing my poem.
Lunch In the Ivory Tower
by Betsy Mars
Racing in between classes
we waited, prim primrose uniforms,
soiled aprons, leaky pens in pocket.
Checking our stations with fingers crossed.
Kowtowing to the power-hungry manager
who assigned them, knowing he held our fate
in his perfidious palms. Ass-kissing: first lesson.
Serving, invisibly, the uncivil engineers,
the antisocial workers, the hyper-political scientists,
we jostled in the kitchen before the wheel of fortune
which held the ticket to our tips —
begging Gil, the grizzled Cajun,
as he slowly stirred
the pot of gumbo, dropping ashes
and ignoring our pleas — currying favor
with busboys, supporters in the cause. Second lesson.
Mixed-up orders, kitchen crookery,
we were all complicit, all forgiving in the rush
to get our esteemed professors
their daily bread — liver and onions,
Monte Cristo sandwiches, glasses of wine
or endless refills of coffee. Insatiable:
further education.
Nobel prize winners or underachievers…
View original post 319 more words
Illumination, poem by Betsy Mars (LOST AND FOUND Poetry and Prose Series)
Philadelphia Freedom, poem by Betsy Mars (ME, AT 17 Poetry and Prose Series)
Philadelphia Freedom by Betsy Mars Philadelphia freedom beckons endlessly on the radio — the soundtrack of the bicentennial year back when my own centennial seemed so distant. At seventeen, l…
Source: Philadelphia Freedom, poem by Betsy Mars (ME, AT 17 Poetry and Prose Series)
I killed him with love: Ode to a mouse
My latest publication – tribute to Davy, my best and worst loved mouse.
By Fernando Gallegos
By Betsy Mars
I socked him away,
safe from escape,
with warmth
to the touch and softness –
smelling of mouse
pellets and hay.
Like a lucky rabbit foot
to stroke in the night
when demons came
calling for me, he comforted,
but I slept right through
to the mourning
He was cold
and hard to the touch.
In my guilt, I emptied
the sock and left him
rigid in the cage,
To be discovered
and buried,
along with my memory
of inadvertent, mindless murder.
At eight years old,
I learned that love could be lethal.
