swifts  &  s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings

quotidian = occurring every day
LB Sedlacek

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Qua

quay = wharf
quaff = drink deeply
quasi = having some resemblance
quahog = edible clam
quantum = specified amount
quaver = sound tremulous
quondam = former
quacksalver = fraud
quetzal = tropical bird
quiniela = type of bet
quotidian = occurring every day
quatrain = form-line verse
quinquennial = occurring every 5 years

reach the quay in the
storm while surfing for a credit
offer from a quasi company
eating quahogs in quantum
your voice quavers as you
spot your quondam friend
winning a quiniela in her
quotidian routine just like
a quacksalver reading
quatrains as if he wrote
them and all this happens
just like your quinquennial
samplings of rum and Coke
or bourbon and Ginger Ale.

Unsettled
  

Exoteric
Probity
Lorn
External
Uprightness
Forsaken
You’d
think
this
poem
would
spell 
something
but
it 
doesn’t
Unsettling
Belonging
Adherence
Forlorn
Lovelorn
Exoskeleton
Exobiology
Honor
Honesty
A job practicing decay.

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LB Sedlacek has had poems and stories appear in a variety of journals and zines. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net. Poetry books include “Swim,” “The Poet Next Door,” “Happy Little Clouds,” and “Words and Bones.” Her latest fiction book is “The Jackalope Committee and Other Tales” published by Alien Buddha Press. Her fiction books include the award nominated mystery “The Glass River” and “Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories.” Her short stories “Backwards Wink” and “Sight Unseen” both won 1st Place Prose for different issues of “Branches” literary magazine in 2022. LB also enjoys swimming and reading.