Well hi there, my dearest digital friends. Come inside for a visit. The poetic waters are dark but warm today. 🩶
After reading, if you’re so inclined, feel free to scroll down and check out some of the things happening in my world as I continue my adventures in writing. Now, on to some new poetry….
This week’s poem got me thinking about the odd timing of humor.
It has a habit of wandering into the wrong rooms. Not with a drumroll. More like a confused guest who opens the door, looks around, shrugs, and decides to stay anyway.
I’ve seen it happen during the most serious moments.
Someone is trying to give a heartfelt eulogy, and suddenly a story slips out about the time the deceased locked herself out of the house in her kimono and slippers. Or someone’s stomach growls loud enough to qualify as a special effect.
Everyone tries not to react, which only makes it worse. You can feel the whole room fighting the urge to leap through the veil of propriety.
It used to make me uncomfortable.
I thought solemnity meant total silence. Now I think humor shows up because the body needs a pressure release. A tiny escape hatch. A reminder that the world is still turning, even if the moment feels unbearably still.
There is a chapter about Grandma Healy’s hooley in my book Life Sucks (he said with shameless self-promotion). A night of revelry and debauchery so epic that I imagine it sent our beloved grandma’s spirit off to the Great Beyond – eyes twinkling with mischievous laughter (and a little embarrassment).
And honestly, there is something beautiful about that. How the heart refuses to live on one frequency. How grief and laughter keep bumping elbows like siblings who can’t stop irritating each other.
Maybe that’s our design. A little sorrow. A little silliness. All mixed together without our permission.
So I’m wondering…. Have you ever been in one of those moments where everyone is trying to stay serious, and something absolutely ridiculous breaks through anyway?
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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burnt offering
i fashioned my coffin
so many times in my mind –
an urn from Ancient Greece
writ with leaf-fringed maidens, overwrought in my honor.
my flesh made ash
in some dirty old furnace
tended by a nameless soldier who recalled the smell –
reminded him of breathing glass shards,
the endless dust of those
pagan Afghan hills and their wandering Dead;
but this burnt offering shall not be contained,
and a coffin is made for filling.
pour me gentle on its white satin linings,
rake my embered remains,
spread me in Kaddish of spirit and sea,
wake my bakings in froth and foam,
make me the angel i had forgotten inside,
shape me from the heat i surrendered,
trace my form before you leave;
then plant a red bow tie where my neck should be,
and everyone can have their last laugh
thankful they are not me,
caught between their horror
and their tears.
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This Week’s Links to my published work…
- 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
It has been a productive last few months for me. Nine poems published. If you are interested in a copy of any of these, I have embedded the Amazon links below.
- My poem the color of staying will be published in the Spring’26 edition of PHIL LIT Journal on March 15. This literary journal “promotes writing that engages with philosophical, metaphysical, ethical, & existential themes; without sacrificing beauty, craft, surprise, or risk.” Please be sure to check it out. Super humbled to be published with so many other amazing 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 ☘️
While death can be gritty and cold, we can still choose to meet it with a bit of grace and a final, defiant joke. By adding that red bow tie, you remind us that even in our darkest moments, there is room for a little wit to comfort, or haunt, people we leave behind. Loved this poem, P.S.! Quite humorous!
So well said, PS! A little dark humor to try and maintain our sanity through the challenges life loves to test us with. Thanks so much, my friend. 🙏🏻🥂🖤✨