Martina Reisz Newberry
On My Way
I keep dreaming of my father
and I worry about why.
He wanted a boy, got me instead.
He was ok with it—not ecstatic
but ok.
A girl can’t ask for more than that,
can she?
Mother was and is a kind of blur
even in my dreams. I confess
to having been frightened
by her intermittent insanity—
a pastiche of moods and personalities
gleaned from dreams and magazines
I see it now as a kind of divinity
and regret my fear of her.
These days, I can’t help but wonder
whether I should follow my real life
or my dream life. I am certain there is
some answer between doubtless and maybe.
Martina Reisz Newberry
Martina Reisz Newberry is the author of 6 books of poetry. Her most recent book is GLYPHS (available in April 2022 from Deerbrook Editions), BLUES FOR FRENCH ROAST WITH CHICORY, available from Deerbrook Editions. She is the author of NEVER COMPLETELY AWAKE (from Deerbrook Editions), and TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME (Unsolicited Press). She is also the author of WHERE IT GOES (Deerbrook Editions). LEARNING BY ROTE (Deerbrook Editions) and RUNNING LIKE A WOMAN WITH HER HAIR ON FIRE: Collected Poems (Red Hen Press).
She has been included in "The Sixty Four Best Poets of 2018" (Black Mountain Press/The Halcyone Magazine editorial staff).
Newberry has been included in The Cenacle, Cog, Blue Nib, Braided Way, Roanoak Review, THAT Literary Review, Mortar Magazine, Sisyphus, Courtship of Winds, Red Fez, Poesis, Cultural Daily, and many other literary magazines and anthologies in the U.S. and abroad.
She has been awarded residencies at Yaddo Colony for the Arts, Djerassi Colony for the Arts, and Anderson Center for Disciplinary Arts.
Passionate in her love for Los Angeles, Martina currently lives there with her husband, Brian, a Media Creative.