A rotten apple
at the bottom of
the cardboard box
smells sweet, just at the end,
glazed in its honeyed rot
glowing within the dark box.
Spencer K. M. Brown is a poet and novelist from the foothills of North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and son. He is the winner of the 2016 Penelope Niven Award, the 2018 Flying South Prize, and finalist for the Thomas Wolfe Prize. His poems and fiction have appeared in numerous publications. He is the author of the novels Move Over Mountain (J.New Books 2019) and Hold Fast (Wiseblood Books 2022), and the poetry chapbook, Cicada Rex (Ghost City Press 2023).