The roses are red

your hosts are delighted 
this is Sazeracs’ new issue

and you’re invited 

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Admittedly, we’re not the best poets. Lucky for you, dear readers, a number of talented wordsmiths are on the guest list for this month’s dinner party, which you’ll notice is a little more rose-colored than our first. We’ve officially dubbed our second issue the unofficial Valentine’s issue. The poets at our table, like Megan Cannella, Lynn Finger, Ndaba Sibanda and Sophie Kearing, have penned some beautiful verses for your cards. We want you to be our valentine, so consider this a big candy heart asking you, reader, to “Be Mine?” Step into our pink-and-red salon.

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The Champagne is as pink as the confetti glittering on the tablecloth, and we imagine more than a few cheeks will be flushed before the night is through. Uchimura Kaho is singing a song about love, and David Tay ponders the magic of a nighttime drive. Pour a glass of merlot for Aidan Jones in the corner, where they’ll be comparing falling in love to living in a perpetual sunset. Yes that’s a cupid in the corner stringing up his bow, and you may even glimpse the girls from Picnic at Hanging Rock flitting through the crowd.

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We’ve prepared bouquets—of roses and balloons—the color of candy for poets like M. Roanoke, Dylan Willoughby and Lucia Gallipoli. Fiction writer Lena King can be found munching on figs and strawberry Linzer cookies while she considers the beauty in the subtly strained domestic bonds that thread through our lives.

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It’s safe to say we’re in love with essayist Grace Shields who’s written a poignant piece on love in the wake of grief. Enjoy oysters on the half-shell with Marc Isaac Potter and Ivan de Monbrison, who will entice you with their sugary literary confections. And there’s heart-shaped cakes made up in raspberry compote and meringues, for when you want a little dessert to go with poet Kelli Lage’s lyrics.

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Don your best Cupidcore by candlelight and open this valentine we’ve put together just for you. Conversation hearts not included.

    

XOXO
Susan, Vanessa & Lauren