Here, Be Dragons

John Schiano

I see in
my mirror
an arcane map
of surreal terrain
describing confines,
territories and borders
outlined by a torturous
weave of intersecting
faults and fractures.
The stress lines begin
and end without reason,
and they deepen every day.

---

John Schiano
A former New Yorker and a disabled veteran, I received my Fine Arts degree from The Cooper Union. I've won several awards for my poetry and artwork including awards from the Poetic Genius Society, Shadow Poetry and the Winsor & Newton Award for Portraiture. My hybrid creation appeared in the September 2024 issue of Ink in Thirds, and I'm a "Featured Contributor" in their Vol. 6, i. 1, with publication of my artwork. I was published in Rising Phoenix Review in September 2024 and The Seraphic Review published my poem their March 2025 Issue. One of my calligrams appears in the February 2025 issue of #RANGER and they will publish another in their Issue 10. Currently I'm experimenting with new forms of visual poetry and hybrid art.