Salutations, my delightfully surreptitious friends. Thank you for stepping into my little world of words and contemplation. Be most welcome.
I have so many new projects in flight for 2026. Top of mind is finishing the manuscript for my new book of poetry – hopefully in the next three to six months. And, as always, access to my current published books is listed further below, if interested.
Now on to some new poetry….
This week’s poem sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. (Sorry. I promise that’s the only obvious joke.)
A few of my pre‑readers asked about the names in it – Hyzenthlay and Efrafa – and whether they’re doing any particular work, or if I was just being… extra.
Fair question.
Like many people of a certain age, Richard Adams’ Watership Down lives somewhere in my long‑term memory as “that rabbit book that was way more intense than anyone warned us about.”
If you haven’t read it, Hyzenthlay is a rabbit who escapes an authoritarian warren called Efrafa, a place built on order, control, and the promise of safety.
I remembered the book as pastoral and political at the same time, which is a strange and not entirely unhelpful combination.
What stayed with me wasn’t the adventure so much as the idea of order. Political systems built with good intentions that demand obedience in return. A form of conditional freedom.
Those ideas have a way of sneaking into the present, don’t they?
So when I imagined a future where the machines are quiet and the grass has had the last word, I didn’t want the rabbit there to be decorative. I wanted her to come from somewhere. To remember something. To sit by the stream not because she’s naïve, but because she knows exactly what the alternative looks like.
If you caught the reference, great. If you didn’t, that’s okay too.
Allusions, for me, are less about recognition and more about resonance, little pressure points where other stories quietly lean in – and maybe thicken the poetic stew.
I’m curious what you felt reading it. If you knew the references, how did they shape your experience with the poem?
As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to this week’s poem in the ‘Leave a Reply’ comment section at the very bottom of this page.
-PS Conway ☘️ ☘️ ☘️
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how uncanny we really are
eating blackberries with a bunny in the garden,
the midsummer heat pressing sticky-thick on our hides.
i shall name her Hyzenthlay,
and she’ll tell me of her life as an Efrafan doe,
and we’ll snicker at freedom’s fragile leash
as though the ghosts of the world dare not find us
for the bulldozers have all fallen silent,
and the wheels of progress have rusted.
nothing remains but iron tombs buried beneath dandelions
after the grasses reclaimed their dominion
after the seas scrubbed away the stains of man
and we shall take our tea by a stream full of salmon
where the birch trees sizzle and shimmer like fire
where the bees graze in their honey-lolled oblivion;
and we shall bow to the tidepools and mock gently
our strange resemblances, not in cruelty, but with
the joy of recognizing how uncanny we really are.
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This Week’s Links…
- Purchase Echoes Lost in Stars
- on Amazon USA: https://a.co/d/eZPzwxX
- on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/ebjqinU
- on Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/avWTF19
- on Amazon DE: https://amzn.eu/d/8IDYSIv
- Purchase Life Sucks
- on Amazon USA: https://a.co/d/arnze2N
- on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/8sBYofv
- on Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/brzfJ4l
- on Amazon DE: https://amzn.eu/d/95Y4WAA
- My author website: https://psconway.com/
- My Interview with AllAuthor : https://allauthor.com/interview/psconway/
Media News…
*NEW* My interview with Editor-in-Chief, Gabriela Marie Milton of Literary Revelations Publishing House: https://literaryrevelations.com/2026/01/25/the-portrait-of-a-poet-ps-conway/ 🌹☘️
*NEW* My interview with author Tricia Copeland on her podcast Finding the Magic Book is now available to watch: https://youtu.be/NhieYECI-H4 🥂🤯
Latest Publication News
December was a productive month for me. Eight poems published. If you are interested in a copy of any of these, I have embedded the Amazon links below.
- I have six poems published in FromOneLine Volume 7, an anthology of poems/stories where the writers were given one opening line to maintain, then build a poem/story around it. Gratitude to Meghan Dargue for including my work and for editing such a thoughtful compilation from a deeply talented group of writers.
* - I have two poems published in The Belfast Review, Winter/Spring 2026. Based in the north of Ireland, this gorgeous emerging literary magazine, in addition to poetry, “aims to create a dialogue between the arts, featuring genres not usually included in literary journals such as song lyrics, plays, screenplays, and hybrid forms, to better reflect the lived experience of art, the self, and the city.”
Latest News – Life Sucks…
So far, Life Sucks has received so many ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Editorial Reviews. More to come soon.
I’m anticipating a whole bunch of solid Reader Reviews to begin populating Amazon in the next few weeks, too. The goal is to get to 50 Reader Reviews asap to kick Amazon’s promotion engine into a higher gear.
Speaking of Editorial Reviews, we secured a BIG ONE – BookLife. This is the indie press division of Publishers Weekly and represents a major credibility lift to my published work. Here is a link, in case you’re interested in reading the entire review:
And here are a few other snippets of other editorial reactions so far!
– “Snort-laughs and gasp-worthy wit – PS Conway goes there, and it’s hilarious.”
– “A must-read for anyone stressed, cynical, or just in need of a damn good laugh.”
– “Darkly funny, brutally honest, and weirdly comforting – like therapy, but with colonoscopies.”
☘️ COME BACK EACH WEEK FOR NEW POETRY ☘️