Two Poems by Lumina Miller
"Hungry" and "Mellow Gold"
Hungry
Just a corner—keep it to a minimum A deciliter above malnourished Replete with regret Rings are off Weightless fingers pound and purge over backlit keys While my gut murmurs reminders to feed It with more than tepid coffee and tidbits Of luxuriant dark chocolate Room with diminutive light, a shield From the thousand failures that batter At my grace
Mellow Gold
Lack of appetite for attention, an Instagram failure only a few digital hearts— but the bloody one that knocks is perpetually ready to fall. For salt water-soaked Mondays, a swaying chorus of willow trees, the youthful wake that follows flirtation, capturing snippets of easy.
We asked Lumina a few questions for our ASK THE AUTHOR series.
Lumina, What is the best advice you’ve received as a writer?
The best advice I’ve received is to keep going. Writing is filled with rejection and revisions. Getting published after months of hearing no makes the little successes more savory.
What is the best advice you ever received?
I signed up for “Letters in the Mail” from The Rumpus earlier this year. They send physical paper from writers that include prompts. Our world is so rushed and mostly digital. To hold a piece of paper from a stranger and get a glimpse through their lens has drummed up some creative paths atypical to me.
Love that! What/who inspires you?
My daughter is a year and a half old and inspires me. Her curiosity and appetite for adventure in unlikely places make me realize how much splendor I fail to appreciate as an adult.
Lumina Miller has a BA in English from the University of Iowa. She works as an ER nurse, enjoys letting her imagination run rampant, and would rather be outside. Her work has been published by literary magazines The Write Launch, The Banyan Review, Unleash Lit, and Drunk Monkeys.