Broken livesCan have that tragic beautyThe perfect ones will never achieveSuffering may not ennoble its victimsBut it connects them at a depthImmediately apparent, vulnerableTo soft eyes that know profound lossBehind a kind, genuine smile Continue reading Broken Lives by Matthew Peluso
There are rulesof syntaxand you either ride themlike some bucking broncoor pretend you’reunfamiliarwith subject and predicateand all the restbecause you can’t readwhich is a tough sellwhen you’re a writer like there arerules of respectand dignitywhen you’re witha member of the opposite sexthat you adhere toas admirably as a saintor find particularly constrainingfor the devil in youbecause you can’t keepyour hands off her bodywhich is distressingto … Continue reading All of These Rules by John Grey
In an alternate universe, perhaps Joan Didion herself might have become some version of Lily Knight, the dissatisfied, cuckolding Sacramento girl who couldn’t seem to fathom how to be a good wife to the man who loved her. Without her writing talent as a ticket out of town, Didion could have easily become just another Golden State tragedy, damned to a lifetime of complacence and … Continue reading The Abandonment of California by Joan Didion: A Comparative Glance at Run River and Where I Was From
And when he comes From the beatThat I touched To stand by meIt’s a new time A new periodLike bloodExperiencing itselfDown my thighsOh, beautiful thighs!If no one else can properly love you, Then I surely will Rightfully. I should. I shall. I am. I rebel against a man’s handIndustryA man who is angry At the weight he is carrying A man who is righteous A man who is infinitely entitled.Then war, I declare. War I will conductAll on … Continue reading Untitled by Noémie Zumer
Demaratos began to feel remorse as he approached Sardis on foot. He was traveling with his slave. The last king of Lydia before the Persian conquest was called Croesus. He had made the city fantastic. The gates were carved with reliefs of men enacting different parts of their city’s history, which Demaratos didn’t know, so he couldn’t understand the carvings. That was a little later … Continue reading The Former King of Sparta by Zeke Greenwald
Thinking about it now, there was probably no one else in the world besides Charlie Kaufman who could have adapted Iain Reid’s surreal 2016 novel, I’m Thinking of Ending Things. No one with the same outlook on life or ability to manifest the psychological with such aesthetic deftness. With renewed interest in the source material thanks to the recent release of its film version, it … Continue reading I’m Thinking of Ending Things Is the Unvarnished Exploration of What It Means to Be Alone, And The Inherent Meaninglessness of Life When You Are
The subway door closes, and it starts. Since it is not too busy, I take a seat and extend my gaze to the pole—it is shiny and dirty—it distends my face in a silvery concave bowl. All I get is the theme, as if breathing into a paper bag. It is always just the theme, like I’m not musically literate enough to remember any more. … Continue reading The Elgar by Sil Spencer
Claws weep as they crack the fleshtrembling ivorypalms pushing the dagger deepIt is so much harder to kick a fallen soldier,Your hollow aching carcasspours gangrene through my feetknocked back by iron anklesto waste hopeless at my kneesIt is so much harder to cut an infant leech,Withered, the child stands sobbinggrasping with blackened armsthey … Continue reading Weeping Teeth by Isabel Marie
While France prides itself on being a nation of liberté, the unspoken caveat is that one usually needs to be a man to enjoy such liberté. The feelings of “retro-ness” that women in the country have long felt, whether about gender or racial discrimination (see: Virginie Despentes’ recent comment on the discrepancy between those affected by COVID-19), has reached such a fever pitch that they’ve … Continue reading Moi les hommes, je les déteste: A Confluence of Misogyny-Based Censorship in France
Johnathan Lingard knew what he had to do, but now that the moment was upon him, he questioned if he could go through with it. He watched his son back out of the driveway and turn at the corner, soon out of the neighborhood and off to college. He was a good kid with a bright future. It’s what Johnathan didn’t know about his own … Continue reading The Commitment by L. A. Ricketts III
