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The Daily Aftershock (Writing Prompt)The 'S' Word by Mark Antony OwenEditorial Note by Max WallisThere are poems that circle a subject, and poems that walk straight into it. The ‘S’ word is a record of that moment, when someone says it out loud. Suicide. Not metaphor, not euphemism. And the shift it causes in the room, in the relationship, in the world. Mark Antony Owen captures the jolt of intimacy redefined: “I felt you as if new.” This poem doesn’t explain. It doesn’t resolve. It lets the weight of what was said linger in the air between two people. Some truths can’t be undone. O...2025-05-1200 min
The Daily Aftershock (Writing Prompt)A suicide note by Mark Antony OwenThe Aftershock Review is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Editorial Note by the EditorSome poems arrive with a hush around them. Others, like this one, carry a quiet weight that reverberates long after reading.Mark Antony Owen’s A suicide note is not metaphor. It was written with the real intent to be found. A document of care left in the imagined aftermath of absence. It’s been years now—but the poem remains, not as evi...2025-05-0101 min
The Daily Aftershock (Writing Prompt)Section I - Opening Tremors / Naming the Damage - (Meet the contributors!)Opening Tremors / Naming the DamageWe begin where it begins: with rupture. The poems in this first section speak from the brink, in the language of impact, aftermath, and the moment something breaks. This is where the damage is named. Not to retraumatise, but to mark its outline, to say this happened. These poems are raw-boned, necessary, unflinching. They give shape to the unspeakable, refusing the silence that so often follows trauma. This is the first tremor, the shock before the aftershock. The moment the world tilts, and you know nothing will ever be the same again.2025-04-2402 min