“Turning Back” by Stuart Jay Silverman

Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt the room was vacant, not empty, for the chairs and carpet were there, and the dark shape of the dresser broke into the light, so there was light, and inside the light a haze, giving substance, or, at least, form, to the light, which folded everything else into it, its moody aspic flowing like glass creeping down against … Continue reading “Turning Back” by Stuart Jay Silverman

“Keeping count” by Godefroy Dronsart

Nowadays, there are more elephants in children’s books than in any other Africa as there are more ghosts posing knife-faced on paperback covers than in the still-windowed suburban house I grew up in as there are more poems in the seasons of your hips and wrists than in continent-wide anthologies and discounted magazines– And me, I know I can’t keep up. But I try. Continue reading “Keeping count” by Godefroy Dronsart

“He suffered, & he suffered, & he suffered – then on the seventh day, he took a break. Then, he suffered!” by David Leo Sirois

There is a painful lack of pigeons on the pavement at this moment. My entire being aches for how they go out dancing still wearing their office clothes at 5:05pm – pressed cuffs a-clangin’ against pointy shoes – displaying smart grey suits or black with fancy white stripes – even dirt-colored birds know how to groove & shake it. Wind-blown cartwheelin’ plastic bags covered with … Continue reading “He suffered, & he suffered, & he suffered – then on the seventh day, he took a break. Then, he suffered!” by David Leo Sirois

“Vanity Pigeon” by David Leo Sirois

A good plume spray helps me feel whole but merely the name of a cheese from goats makes me run to my colognes What else could it mean      to “become an adult” but the purchasing power      for creams & powders ~ I swore off soap ages ago ~ My mirror tells me     Beauty is freedom though it is such a burden too The staring becomes so tiresome ~ … Continue reading “Vanity Pigeon” by David Leo Sirois

At Least Political Oppression Has Inspired Great Literature (Mostly Dostoyevsky)

With the nation and the world mourning the total lack of human compassion and common sense concentrated primarily in the Bible Belt of the United States, let us try to find one silver lining through it all: times of political oppression and unrest have always spurred on great art–granted, most of it by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Let us look back upon extreme times of historical crisis … Continue reading At Least Political Oppression Has Inspired Great Literature (Mostly Dostoyevsky)

“Expansion” by Stephanie Macias

The furthest thing from me is resolution. Like the furthest galaxies it flies away from me at top speeds. There’s no use chasing it. No lasso that would catch it. Now is an undone dress only halfway buttoned up. And some buttoned wrong. Mismatching keyholes in a rush to get downstairs and out the slamming screen door. Already my closure is passing Mars and then … Continue reading “Expansion” by Stephanie Macias