Joshua Brewer recently won a poetry contest which published his poem on a bus where advertisements usually appear. He was book review editor for Yemassee for 2 years, co-edited a number of Sargasso issues, and also edited something called Scivias, though he does not specialize in publications with aberrant names. After 10 years of teaching spread across half a dozen colleges and universities, he finally made associate professor in May 2012.

Twinkle Song
By Joshua Brewer

When my son
cries out at night for daddy
I stumble in, grateful,
until he says, “No–Mommy.”

He struggles in my arms,
his exposed back cold,
so I pull down his shirt,
rub him warm again,
and still he calls for mommy.

Still
he settles
hushes
slows in the silence
calls for a song.

“Twinkle, twinkle little star,”
all my dry croak can render.

The music of poor Mozart’s song,
Ah vous dirai-je, Maman,
I butcher,
but the lyrics
by poorer Jane Taylor
I deliver in a 
whispering reverence,
serviceable to soothe
my son.

Mozart’s song pleads for mommy’s help
against daddy’s unreasonable reason
when all the kid wants is sugar.

In Jane Taylor’s lyric, the child has the wisdom
to look into the sky
forget about his parents
close his eyes
and repeat the lines in wonder.

Now 
we sing in unison

Now
I sing a solo
but think of mommy
and wonder how I know what you are.