World

by Gregory Lawless

Out of the hammered world, out
of the mud. Out of the awed
scissor-faces
of ravens.
Out of squash blossoms
the color of women
asleep by a fire.
Out of the storm.
Out of the sick horses
climbing the hill.
Out of starfall
on the broken lake,
the wheelbarrow
filling with snow.
Out of the sea
and its drawers
of hammers.
Out of our bodies
alone. Out of this tongue,
the surviving song,
this tree
growing straight now
through a break
in the stone.

About the Author

Gregory Lawless is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Amarillo Bay, Ampersand, Apple Valley Review, Arava Review, Artiface, At-large Magazine, "Best of the Net 2007," Blood Orange Review, Contrary, The Cortland Review, Drunken Boat, Front Porch Journal, Gander Press Review, H_NGM_N, La Petite Zine, Memorious, My Name Is Mud, nth position, Sonora Review, Stirring, Stride, and 2River. BlazeVOX published his first collection of poems, I Thought I Was New Here, in August of 2009. He lives in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Maintained or neglected, familiar or foreign, well-worn or wild, roadways inform our decisions and identities. Their geographies direct the movement
of our lives and sketch the cartography of our stories. In this spirit, 322 Review publishes provocative emerging and established artists whose fiction,
creative nonfiction, poetry, and mixed media artwork wander the paths of human experience. A nonprofit literary journal conceived
and operated by former Rowan University graduate students, 322 Review is based in Southern New Jersey.