The sonnet "Strontium" is likely the last of my periodic table sonnets to surface before the arrival of my poetry collection Periodic Boyfriends later this year (c/o Capturing Fire Press). I actually submitted it to The Oakland Review two years ago and then, although I knew it had been accepted, was never able to verify its manifestation in print. For a long stretch, neither online nor USPS offered me any evidence but then the pandemic interfered with so much more than publication schedules. Today, I randomly looked at the magazine's website and lo and behold!
Strontium His rare glow-in-the-dark intellect pricked an interest; his polyglot mastery of French, Italian, and German upticked his allure; his tailored V-necked jerseys fit right in with the form-fitting fashions at G Bar where he carped about tenure, Staten Island, and Medieval femmes. His quips were highbrow; his tattoo, demure; his academe bent was one I got... Yet he refused to trek by train to Brooklyn and felt competitive towards my pet – a mutt who’d’ve loved him if he’d let him. He now snubs me like a dog on the street as my left-behind socks warm his cold feet. First published in The Oakland Review, Volume XLVI (2022).