issue 3
// poetry
Visioning
by Ann Marie Gamble
It’s in every interview prep, but I was taken by surprise
“Where do you see yourself in five years?”
Mouth still gaping like a fish.
This is not a real question; or,
This is not the real question.
It needs modifiers, qualifiers
A work-life balance that allows
Your corporate strategy and my cottage in the woods
An herb garden and a pet crow
Now I don’t see it so much as I feel
the foot-smoothed floorboards creak
Duck under the bundles of herbs hanging to dry
Hear them rustle as I breeze past, apple cake in hand, to
Pull the whistling kettle off the wood stove and steep a brew
Leaves hand-blended to tickle the palate and awaken the brain cells
While I compile your annual sales data
Format sections for the stockholder report
The crow collects silver
about the author // Ann Marie Gamble
| Ann Marie Gamble (she/any) is an editor and writer who enjoys telling stories, experimenting with language, and discovering connections between family, places, and ideas. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and you can find her work in Nixes Mate Review, star 82, and the Heartland Review. In her free time, she organizes volunteers for the Unbound Book Festival and checks out as many audiobooks as the library allows. |
Instagram/Threads: @annmariegamble
Bluesky: @amgamble
wildscape. literary journal 