Fooling Around

Finalist in the Summer 2026 Editor’s Prize Contest

A city street collage with a bus that reads, “The New York,” and four people, one who stands on top of the bus with the word “sing” over his outstretched hand. “lieder of the city” is written against the swirling sky.

“Lieder of the City” - Ann Calandro

You may find this dreadful
but I am almost seventy-four
years old and I play Gummy Drop
on my iPad every day
for more minutes than I will admit
because it is so satisfying
to match puzzles and build cities
and take time away from reading
about lowering inflammation
and keeping my so-called estate
out of probate, I prefer
to feel the surge of endorphins
winning time trials and collecting bricks
preparing myself to believe
my husband means it
when he tells me I look saucy

I can still hear the mourning doves
and I can still see the wind picking up
moving the tallest oaks into sway
and I appreciate my oldest neighbor
teaching me that a group of ladybugs
is called a loveliness, and I will
agree to help her set up folding chairs
for the upcoming fundraiser
for the neurodivergent

and I hope I get to sit near
a young one like myself
so that we can compare notes
on the tricks of the game

About the Author

Susan Shea is a retired school psychologist who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in a forest in Pennsylvania. In the last three years, she has become a full-time poet. Since then, her poems are in, or are forthcoming in Peatsmoke, EcoTheo Review, Burningword, Chiron Review, ONE ART, Sheila-Na-Gig, The MacGuffin, Umbrella Factory Magazine, Ekstasis, Foreshadow, and others. She received honorable mention in the Passager Poetry Contest. Four of her poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and one for Best of the Net.

About the Artist

Ann Calandro is a writer, artist, and classical piano student. She received a 2026 Individual Artist Finalist Award (prose category) from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Serving House Books published her short story collection in 2025 and her poetry collection in 2026. Her artwork has appeared in the 2023 NJ Arts Annual, juried museum and gallery shows, and literary journals as cover and interior artwork. Shanti Arts Press published three children’s books she wrote and illustrated. See artwork at ann-calandro.pixels.com.

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