This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Maggie Rue Hess, is from Running Wild by Patricia McMillen (Finishing Line Press 2024).
Fourth of July, Chicago
My mother told me “Lie down with dogs,
stand up with fleas.” That’s why at first I’m glad
to find his place is overrun with cats:
Persian, calico, tortoise, Manx, draped
like antimacassars across the arms
of rescued Victorian sofas, dozing
on windowsills, play-batting dustballs.
Salsa music rises from Clark Street, a pulse
as sullen as heat, drifts through the open window
on a breeze smelling of tortillas and yesterday’s
diesel exhaust. He’s beating me, slowly,
at strip chess. I lose a bishop, take
off one sock, lick salt from my upper lip.
Sweat rolls from my scalp, lodges in a brow.
He’s sweet, I think, sweet—but I’m so hip,
I’ve got no time for love, only enough
to tangle on a frayed bedspread covered
with cat hair, while far off, a lost dog howls.
Patricia “Ti” McMillen is a musician, clown, community activist, and retired lawyer, with publications in journalism, biography, fiction and poetry. Honors include an Illinois Arts Council poetry fellowship (2002), Pushcart Prize nomination (2002), Masters degree (English) from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2005), and publication in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Patricia’s first full length poetry collection, Running Wild, was published by Finishing Line Press (Georgetown, KY) in 2024, and her poetry chapbook, Knife Lake Anthology in 2006 by Pudding House Publications (Columbus, OH). Knife Lake Anthology is now out of print.
Patricia relocated in 2025 from her home state of Illinois to Northern California, where there is sadly little public transportation, though more than enough wine. Her web address is www.knifelakeworld.com, and she posts frequently on facebook, X, the New York Times (as ChicagoPoetLawyer), and various other places under various other pseudonyms.
Maggie Rue Hess (she/her) is a PhD student living in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her partner and their crusty white dog. She serves as Poetry Co-Editor for Grist: A Journal of the Literary Arts. Her work has appeared in Rattle, Connecticut River Review, SWWIM, and other publications; her debut chapbook, The Bones That Map Us, was published by Belle Point Press in 2024. Maggie likes to share baked goods with friends and can be found on Instagram as @maggierue_.
- The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: Roadmap: A Choreopoem by Monica Prince - April 3, 2026
- Meet Our New Intern: Tara Rahman - April 2, 2026
- We Call Upon the Author to Explain—Noel Quiñones - April 2, 2026