In plain sight, laying back in the cut,camouflaged into my surroundings andblending in real nice–I see things all the time, withoutother people knowingI’m there or watching– I saw who robbed who,when they weren’t home,I saw who was cheating onwho, when they thoughtthey were alone– Tell you the truth.I need help, trying not to close my eyes or look the other way.But trust, I will tell … Continue reading In Plain Sight by Ralph Watkins
While many of us try to escape the place from whence we came (particularly those of an artistic temperament), there is often no avoiding how much the milieu that formed the core of our being remains within us. For cinema critic and short story writer Ewa Mazierska, that milieu is undeniably Włocławek. Or at least Poland as a general framework for the narratives that comprise … Continue reading Ewa Mazierska Brings the Character of Poland (and Other Foreign Lands) to Life in Neighbours & Tourists
I cleaned your cat’s puke again today,the beige chunks fused into our matwhile she gobbled down the rest. Remember when that made me retch? To eat one’s molten sick.The way her body pumped it outlike the devil’s song, all heave and ho from gut to throat to floor. One time, my shoe. A fur machinefor summoning Beelzebub. Better out than in? “Better in than out.” For you, it was … Continue reading Romantic Dinner by Chris Burke
“Hey, how long you gonna need me here?” says the slave on page 38 of the textbook. Continue reading After Racism by Chris Burke
Preconceived notions are, of course, the unfortunate backbone that makes this world go hastily ‘round. It’s what saves us all time and effort when it comes to actually scratching beneath the surface of things. While a bittersweet reality of life, stereotyping is a lazy human phenomenon that works to eighty-something Maud’s advantage. For she is the eponymous “elderly lady” in Helene Tursten’s An Elderly Lady … Continue reading An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good (Nor Should She Be): You’ll Think Twice About Your Write-Off of Old Women After Reading Helene Tursten’s Tale of Intrigue
I keep my head high, eyes on the horizon, know that every refusal brings me closer to what I want.I keep my feet firm, stand ground on my boundaries,know there’s a way forward, we just haven’t found it. And you fixate on one thing the way it must be, while I’m thinking of all the other sides that I see.And you repeat the same thing, stuck in … Continue reading Exhale by Gracie Bialecki
Frankie smokes on the flyoutside the Duane Reade store,where she works as a cashier.Every break and lunch hour,Frankie pulls on a Camelnon-filter; her head lowered,as if shame accompaniedevery inhale. I tried to figure Frankie’s age.with her slight black figureand defeat etched into the lines on her face, Frankie looks older than language. When I stop for a quick, “Hello,”Frankie attempts to speak. Shebarely has enough oxygen to … Continue reading Choke Talk by Mary Shanley
For P.J. Catherwood, MIA, July 21, 1918 A universe sinks into the hills,a vacuum of sunlight spreads like hair.Words form in mouths and suspendin mist. Trees shiver beyond the stonewalls where empty worlds are loud as thunder. What years these,a decade ending with a paper savior ablaze? The sky’s flak crawls like clouds across the countryside.A rain falls and dry earth swallows the dimples left there. Continue reading Aisne-Marne American Cemetery/Cimetière Américain, Belleau, France by Michael Catherwood
