O:JA&L Poetry:All forms & styles
Willa Potter
IT’S LOVELY
Lately, you’ve been using words like “fantastic” haven’t you? You’ve gotten to saying it’s so good, it’s too good, it’s lovely. How impossible it is, right? You’ve been using the word impossible on some of the first things: The sea, blue deep and impossible, with its sweet talk and its shiny decorations, putting all that land in its mouth. Time, and that you get some, a good amount too, a truly fantastic amount if you’re fortunate.
It’s the people, and your getting to be peaceful around them. It’s that you’ve been up in all the little hours on your own lately, walking the brink of the shore for a short while, reading real books made of paper. Ah, it’s the sun, too, isn’t it? Touching you in all the right places. Look at that bright spill over your hair, all clean and blown. Look at you move easy in your skin. I’d be happy too.
About the writer:
Willa Potter is a poet, teacher, and artist currently living in Burlington Vermont. She graduated fromVassar College as an English major in the spring of 2025, and her poetry was awarded the Deanne Beach Stoneham Prize.
Image: Portuguese Bend (AI-assisted digital image) by O:JA&L staff creative. 2026. Public domain via Midjourney AI.
OJAL Art Incorporated, publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its imprints Buttonhook Press, HOT BUTTON PRESS Contemporary Issues, and HIGH BUTTON PRESS Contemporary Art, supports writers and artists worldwide.
BUTTONHOOK PRESS MASTERS SERIES
Click on the titles to explore or download the free PDF chapbooks.
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Brian Clements on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Mark Budman on Flash Discourse
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Ray Gonzalez on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Michael Martone on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Roberta Allen on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Peter Conners on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Maxine Chernoff on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Pedro Ponce on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Tom Hazuka on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Kent Dixon on Flash Fiction & Nonfiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Jim Meirose on Experimental Discourse
With an interview by Associate Editor Warwick Newnham
O:JA&L’S HIGH BUTTON PRESS ART CHAPBOOKS
Click on the titles to explore or download the free PDF chapbooks.
RITES OF CALIBRATION: Images & Excerpts
Fine Art Photography by Rex Wilder
Fine Art Photography by Natalie Christensen
Painting and drawing by Anne-Marie Brown
BY LAND AND BY SEA: Awakening the Sensual
Sculpture and Installation by Mark Yale Harris
Painting and drawing by Bette Ridgeway
Painting and drawing by Kathleen Frank
Painting and drawing by Catherine Eaton Skinner
Implications of Energy
Artist portfolio of Dr. Ernest Williams III
