after Federico García Lorca, An Unfaithful Housewife Translated from the Spanish by Conor O’Callaghan When I led Haroldto my rock by the pondI wondered if he was a virginthough he would soon be my husband. Would he guess that I was not?It took me so long to answer for myself—what does it mean to be a virgin?The peepers were chirping their lullaby. Was it the … Continue reading A Faithful Housewife by Dale Champlin
I ask, just to pass the time. Today for the first timein a long string of days,Old Shoe is lucid. “He died in an avalanche.No, it was a house firewhile I was on vacation. A car crash,” she said,“No wait, he was deliveringthe mail and a semi flattenedhis cart. He was a lumberjackand a widow-maker got him. Hewas cut in two by a freight train.He was … Continue reading How Did Harold Die? by Dale Champlin
We are getting old Our blood is thick and gravelly Pumped up noisily through traffic jam Veins passing abandoned arteries along the way We are told in unison That at our age breathing is important But we talk, and quickly come to the conclusion That less is more So we hold hands and breath and memories Squeezing tighter As days creak by Together we imagine a lightning purge And two smoldering wheelchairs Drifting … Continue reading Old by Christoffer Felix Wahlberg
A spiderlanded somehow in mybathroom trash basket,dancing frantically among tissues.I told her in a singsong voiceI wanted freedom for her,lowering a short glass with folded paperangling to evacuate. She found corners in the bag insideand skittered to climb the crinkling plasticexhausted then retreating to a fold.I urged her on a minute longer and then scoffedsome creatures might just rather die—maybe more prefer a death they … Continue reading Spider by Sarah LaRue
I love youAnd i want to hug youUntil i feel your ribs breakingUnder my fingertipsWith that sand filling in my hollow wellsSo that no one else can drink from themWhen you are gone I love youAnd i want to live on your tongueIn itIn meIn us I love youSo much i want to surrenderTo those heavenly watersIn the blue of your eyesAdmitting my every sinAnd … Continue reading Sand by Nadia Telenchuk
The night before the moon was roundI saw two familiar strangers in the streetThe air was late and tipsyAnd magnificentScentFull of sound I saw two familiar strangersSharing a moment of truthTheir black suitsSuiting the deep-dark clothOf the nightWhich screamed to be young White collars were hidingThe little secretsUnder their collarbonesMoving slowly up and down and up and downIn the slightest attemptsNot to breathe I saw … Continue reading Familiar Strangers by Nadia Telenchuk
(CNN) – [Pope Emeritus] Benedict also wrote that he believes celibacy carries “great significance” and is “truly essential” as a priest’s path to God becomes the foundation of his life. “The call to follow Jesus is not possible without this sign of freedom and of renunciation of all commitments,” he wrote. “Celibacy must penetrate, with its requirements, all of the attitudes of existence.” Retired Pope … Continue reading Papal Ejaculations by Joe McAvoy
Her first kiss was nothing like the movies.There were no swelling symphonies,soft-glowing lights or slow motion spins.He was neither royal nor redeemed.Their lips stumbled in rigid inexperience,and unlike magnets or puzzle pieces,they did not fit perfectly together.His heart raced. Hers did not,yet she detailed the unprecedented momentin a raw message to a long-suffering friend. Continue reading First Kiss by Christina E. Petrides
I am not angry it is merely my fists that are restless and your face that seems so soft I am not hungry it’s simply that my teeth enjoy a challenge and the risk of chocking is such great entertainment I am not horny it is just that I have this thing and you have those things and wouldn’t it be a shame to let them all go to waste I am not dying it is … Continue reading N.O.T. by Christoffer Felix Wahlberg
We don’t choose to exist on this earth any more than we choose who our mother might be. Accordingly, Melissa Broder’s latest, Milk Fed, wields Mother as the crux of Rachel’s daily struggle. Just three years after the release of The Pisces, Broder is building on an oeuvre of highly specialized neuroticism. The kind, they say, is unique to the Semitic mindset. And oh how … Continue reading When Will You Accept Yourself?: Milk Fed
