Poetry

Creeper Wave by Edward Johnson

The sea licks and licks, a metronome,the dull tick tock of nevermore.Her tongue massages the rocky shorehour after hour for centuriesuntil she coughs up a creeperand takes back one of her own. Words are just means to an end,daisies in the chain of ideas,but they have a pull of their ownmagically extracting niblings from the rubble— pickaxes leveraging blood-slick geodes, midwives delivering sprays of orchids. Tuesday dawn, … Continue reading Creeper Wave by Edward Johnson

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Book Review, Criticism, Essay

The Joan Didion-esque Nature of Gavin Newsom’s Young Man in a Hurry

Perhaps, on the surface, one doesn’t automatically associate the names Joan Didion and Gavin Newsom. Oh sure, they’re both from California and proud to be (well, Didion ultimately seemed prouder of living in New York). And they both have long-standing roots in the state that go back generations (Didion a “fifth-generation” Californian and Newsom a “fourth-generation” one). This being the mark of a “real” Californian … Continue reading The Joan Didion-esque Nature of Gavin Newsom’s Young Man in a Hurry

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Poetry

Mar-a-Lago Faces Are Out by Dale Champlin

Just in time for Halloween.     Ugly—the new beauty—only a cool billion can buy.     I tell myself, given the opportunity, I could be as ugly as any of them     with my repetition of chins,up to five today. Horse faces     the new standard—topped by a blonde wiglet—as expected—     best to be viewed through tinted glass,a tumbler of gin fizz at the ready. Something     strange is happening this very moment. True ugly—left eye trained … Continue reading Mar-a-Lago Faces Are Out by Dale Champlin

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Prose Poetry

How Dare You? by Xavier Jones

My phone won’t stop vibrating. I wake up to so many texts with so many pleas desiring gestures of devotion, camaraderie, more devotion and loyalty. The success and survival of so many endeavors hang on the tips of my fingers, no less my tongue. My silence to them is the equivalent of the magistrate remaining absent, hence staying the execution to which they believed themselves … Continue reading How Dare You? by Xavier Jones

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Poetry

Hot Stuff by Charlie Robert

Hot Stuff.At The Bar.Tiddly Winks.At The Bar.Free Drinks.Free Cigar.Top Shelf.Avatar.Hot StuffLoose LipsRuff RuffNice Tips.Hot Stuff.Taxi Cab.Open Blouse.Grab Bag.Penthouse.Dirty Mag.Your SpouseDressed InDrag.Hot StuffHandcuffsHang ToughCream Puff.Hot Stuff.Pretty Boy.With Your NaughtyNaughtyToy.Did You Dig TheScene? Did YouFlash SomeGreen.Call YourMommy First?Then YourMister Clean? Hot StuffRuff RuffHave You Had Enough? If The Answer’sNo YouCan GetTo Go. Continue reading Hot Stuff by Charlie Robert

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Poetry

The Bottom-of-the-Ninth Vibe Check by Zumwalt

No cap, this whole timeline is cringe.My drip is this default skin. My rizz? Gave up and ghosted!I’m just a tryhard mewing at the dust,out here mogging the inevitable. It’s a major L. This house? Highkey Ohio.This aura? Cooked!Heart is salty, blood’s just mid. Bruh.Your own body gives you the ick.I wouldn’t simp for this version of me, fr. The news is pure brainrot.Skibidi politics, … Continue reading The Bottom-of-the-Ninth Vibe Check by Zumwalt

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Book Review, Criticism, Essay

Rachel Cusk’s Life of M is Less a Takedown of Natalie Portman and More an Illumination of the Hollowness of Celebrity Itself

Throughout the twentieth century and for most of the twenty-first thus far, the quest to become famous has remained a common goal among the starry-eyed and attractive (even if only “by small-town standards”). In fact, one could argue it has for so long been presented as the foremost goal not just because of fame’s erstwhile association with wealth, but because “who wouldn’t want their name … Continue reading Rachel Cusk’s Life of M is Less a Takedown of Natalie Portman and More an Illumination of the Hollowness of Celebrity Itself

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Poetry

A Ride With Ketu—This Is Not a Dream by Frankie Laufer

I’ve met the driver before, the rides are often confusing, destination unknown.What starts out up, ends up down.A walk on soft brioche clouds can turn in an instant into a waterslide of turbulent water.The ride is mostly smooth but dead-ends at a group of uncaring and dispirited buildings.They reek of loss and bad decisions.They feel familiar because they are.But beautiful red and violent paint slowly … Continue reading A Ride With Ketu—This Is Not a Dream by Frankie Laufer

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Poetry

The Lizard of Love by Dale Champlin

Only lizards ferry a boat across the river        keeping an eye on the distant shoreHow many women have requested        to be taken back. To begin again— to be thrust into the tentacles of remembrance—       such a thankless mission, they surmise.Where did I come from at the beginning        The trick—how after the first sip of mother’s milk, it is virtually       impossible to return to all-encompassingnothingness. The hope—that butterflies        will always swarm multicolor … Continue reading The Lizard of Love by Dale Champlin

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