Tag: Phyllis Wax

Welcome to Writers Resist the Summer 2026 Issue

This is Writers Resist‘s tenth summer, and this issue is one of our most challenging—not solely due to its size. Perhaps it’s the prolonged exposure to putrid politicians (a putrescence of politicians, if you’ve an affinity for terms of venery) that has inspired the constellation of passions reflected in the issue. From the analogies in nature’s invasives, in Danita Dodson’s poem, to raging against ICE, in Karen Crawford’s spoken word poem, these creations ring the truth, the despair, the joy, the hope. And we hope you find all this as you make your way through the summer of 2026.

The virtual reading for this issue is on Saturday 11 July at 5:00 pm PACIFIC. Please email us at writersresist@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Now, a little note from our publisher: I admit defeat; YouTube and I are not friends. While I seek absolution from the literary gods and our contributors who’ve been asking to see their recorded readings, I’m praying for someone who will teach me how to post our readings on YouTube. I have the basics (sort of), but they need those opening and closing title slide thingies, and more patience than I’ve been able to muster. If someone will take pity and walk me through the process, I will be exceedingly grateful. If you’re out there, please send me an email at kbgressitt@gmail.com.

Finally, and most important, Writers Resist the Summer of 2026:

Invasives by Danita Dodson

Goodbye and Good Riddance by Carolyn Gevinski

Deliverance by Phyllis Wax

13 Ways of Looking at Wicked by Suzanne Edison

Insurance Approved by Samantha Lucia

CASE FILE #1776″ The Murder of Lady Liberty by Daniel P. Douglas

astomatous by Victoria Reyes

Flying Free by Marc Audet

The In-Between by Krista Lee Hanson

The Law by Anne Reiner

The Boy by Raima Larter

Fog of War by Laura Buxbaum

How to Ignite Polite Fires by Em Arata-Berkel

In the Unlikely Event by Rebecca Watkins

While Europe Was Burning by Tytti Heikkinen

Someone Will Be Right With You by Laura Grace Weldon

Fruit Flies by Deborrah Corr

No Quarter by Julie Gard

Two Poems by Erin Vaughn

Dear Colleague: by Shannon Frost Greenstein

To the League of Extraordinary Ladies by Sarah Gane Burton

They Forget by Mandy Prell

Something So Small by Phebe Jewell

The Janus of Freedom by D. Edgar Cook

To those out there with hope by Catherine Zickgraf

Winter in Certain American Cities by Alina Zollfrank

Unbroken by Karen Crawford

Photo credit: K-B Gressitt.

A Note from Writers Resist
Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist on our Give a Sawbuck page.

Deliverance

By Phyllis Wax

Where is the angel
who will save us?

            Not in masked thugs
            who descend on ordinary people
            and whisk them away in unmarked cars           

            Not in civil servants
            who, to keep their jobs,
            bend to the boss’s demands

            Not in political appointees
            who think any law
            can be broken

            Not in judges
            who ignore the harm they do
            when they allow fists on the scales

            Not in educators
            who rewrite history, consider
            facts malleable

            Not in politicians
            who place office above country

No
There is no angel
to save us

Our deliverance will come from ordinary people    
chanting their outrage
in the streets  And from voters
marching to the polls
to restore democracy

We have to save ourselves

Phyllis Wax lives near Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI. She grew up in the Washington, DC, area, which might be why social justice issues push their way into much of her work. Also inspired by nature and human nature, as well as by music of all sorts, her poetry has appeared in many publications, including Writers Resist, Jerry Jazz Musician, Rise Up Review, Spillway, Peacock Journal, Wordpeace, New Verse News, Your Daily Poem, Mobius.

Photo credit: Bogdan Krupin via a Creative Commons license.

A Note from Writers Resist
Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist on our Give a Sawbuck page.

Saved

By Phyllis Wax

This time
will it be an ark
or a spaceship
when God decides
to cleanse the earth?

When rising oceans
submerge the coasts                    
and fire, flood and wind
ravage the rest,

when wars and wickedness
are rampant, when compassion
collides with greed

who will gather their loved ones
to climb aboard—

the righteous                   
or the rich?

Phyllis Wax writes on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI. She grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, and is distressed by what is going on there these days. Her poetry has appeared in many publications, including Writers Resist, Jerry Jazz Musician, Rise Up Review, Spillway, Peacock Journal, Gyroscope Review, Wordpeace, New Verse News, Mobius, Your Daily Poem.

Photo credit: jaci XIII via a Creative Commons license.

A note from Writers Resist
Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist from our Give a Sawbuck page.

What About the Men?

By Phyllis Wax

 

A new drug for menopause
is being hailed as a godsend
for a condition many women endure
in silence. Thing is,
it costs $550 a month.

And, unfortunately, hot flashes (hot flashes!)
are among the most common side effects.
They say it could also be toxic to the liver
or affect the kidneys,
and who knows what it will do
to heart, bones, sex drive, mood or weight.
Still, how wonderful this drug could be.

But why focus only on menopause? And women?
What about the mood swings, eruptions of anger,
the gun-toting rampages afflicting so many men?
Could this be undiagnosed testosterone poisoning?
When will Big Pharma turn its attention
to this as yet unrecognized condition?

Think of it—if medicine can help these men,
not only will their lives be better,
it’ll be the end of
mass shootings, murder
and domestic abuse.

Help women, yes.
But let’s hear it for equal treatment for men.

 

Poet Phyllis Wax writes in Milwaukee on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Social issues are a major focus, but she is also inspired by nature and human nature. Among the anthologies and journals in which her poetry has appeared are Feral, The Widows’ Handbook, Writers Resist, Jerry Jazz Musician, Rise Up Review, Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, Peacock Journal, Wordpeace, New Verse News, Portside, and Your Daily Poem. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the Best of the Net, and Bettering American Poetry anthologies.

Image credit: “Mr. Goodbar,” 2007, by Rinaldo Frattolillo, under “Fair Use” for commentary.

A note from Writers Resist

Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist from our Give a Sawbuck page.

 

Scheherazade

By Phyllis Wax

 

The tales she told
night after night
for a thousand and one nights—
fascinating enough
to keep the king entranced
and to save herself from beheading.

But bedtime stories from today’s Persia,
women targeted like wild game—
pheasants or pigeons, squirrels, rabbits—
men taking aim
at faces, breasts, genitals
to cause maximum pain,
birdshot pellets maiming those most tender,
most sensitive spots,
the parts men seem to like best

Who is listening
to these tales?

 

Social issues are a major focus of Milwaukee poet Phyllis Wax, but she is also inspired by nature and human nature. She has read in coffee houses, bars, libraries and on the radio. Among the anthologies and journals in which her poetry has appeared are: Feral, The Widows’ Handbook, Writers Resist, Jerry Jazz Musician, Rise Up Review, Spillway, Peacock Journal, Surreal Poetics, Naugatuck River Review, New Verse News, Portside, Your Daily Poem. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, as well as the Best of the Net and Bettering American Poetry anthologies. Reach her at poetwax38@gmail.com.

Photo credit: “Iran Protests” by Taymaz Valley via a Creative Commons license.

A note from Writers Resist

Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist from our Give a Sawbuck page.

America Cares . . . Thoughts & Prayers

By Phyllis Wax

 

Fly the flag at half-mast
all the time

because every day,
someone kills himself
or someone else
or a bunch of someones

with a gun.

Fly the flag at half-mast
because America loves guns

more than she loves people.

 

Social issues are a major focus of Milwaukee poet Phyllis Wax. Among the anthologies and journals in which her poetry has appeared are: Rhino, The Widows’ Handbook, Birdsong, Spillway, Peacock Journal, Surreal Poetics, Naugatuck River Review, New Verse News, Portside, Star 82 Review. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, as well as the Best of the Net and Bettering American Poetry anthologies. You can reach her at: poetwax38@gmail.com.

Photo credit: Fibonacci Blue via a Creative Commons license.

A note from Writers Resist:

Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist from our Give a Sawbuck page.