I. Can I just be like the mothers of the 80s and the 2020s, and blame Manson for the cocktail of pills I shoot back in the morning and the caffeine I snort during the two p.m. slump. II. I told my mother I’m still a virgin and she sounded just as disappointed as the day we came home the next day after revealing to my dad she knew about his affair. III. I say I am … Continue reading Furthermore, Moreover, Etc. by Naa Asheley Ashitey
this temptation to step off the edge / and fall weightless, away from the world —“For the Sake of Strangers” by Dorianne Laux It makes me feel somehow betterwhen there’s a name for it—arachnophobia, schadenfreude, sonder for example—those feelings that sit at least two standard deviationsfrom the bell curve center of feelings whereangry, sad and happy live. A man once told me about his compulsion … Continue reading Weightless by Jennifer Rood
—after Rita Dove’s “Girls on the Town, 1946” Thirty seconds across the threshold music grabs your neck & shouldersshakes you free from questions— your mother’s worried eyesyour father’s furrowed brow. Across the darkened room you recognize faceslit by swirling silver flashes— red lips laughing, eyes outlined in diamond glitter.These are your people, your sisters in youth. Close your eyes— ease your body onto the dance floor.Let the music envelop you. Now perfume, … Continue reading A Deeper Ruby and Smoldering Eye by Dale Champlin
It is not the hebenon that was distilledinto Old Hamlet’s earduring his elysian sleep, nor the toxic taxinethat ripples in the blood streamsof funereal yew trees. It is not The Stranglerof Martin’s A Song of Ice and Firethat constricts one’s throatwithout the aid of a hempen rope,nor the hemlock administered to Socrates’ brewto induce his doom. It is not the poisoned dartsthat feature in Sir Arthur … Continue reading Poisons by Susie Gharib
The curators gather round the inflatable chair,Knowing not how to seal the leak. Their efforts doomed to fail,for even if they patch the puncture, the act of repair ruins the chair.How do you fix something that was never meant to last? The furniture of my grandmother, on the other hand,was built to endure: heavy dark wood, breakfronts and clocks,a dining table with a small bell … Continue reading Legacy by Larry Kilman
To break down your wallsTo break through to youis the same as trying to reach 100 summitsClimbing and crawling your sidesrocks and dirt crumbling under my weightI try to move your boulders,snap the twigs blocking my way,winds blowing in all directionsrain beating down on my backthen come the blizzards hitting my faceyou try to knock me downyou try to keep me from going upyou don’t … Continue reading To Reach 100 Summits by Cithara Patra
I lose a little bit of hopeevery day.It feels pretty good. Continue reading As I Get Older by Ron Riekki
Thank God it’s raining.The smokers go outsideand smoke.I wish they’d smoke in their homes.I wish they’d kill their family’s lungsinstead of mine.They smoke in front of my window.I can’t afford air conditioning.I wake up in the night,actually wake upfrom the smoke.Wake up coughing.But tonight it’s raining.They don’t smoke when it rains.Or they do,but not in front of my window.I pray for thunderevery day of my … Continue reading It’s Raining by Ron Riekki
After mowing the lawn, the garage needed a paint job. It was while painting that I discovered a mole on my forearm had turned to a shade of deep brown. I snapped a picture of it and sent it to GPT, which said I needed a topical OTC to treat skin inflammation. The second I applied it, the mole expanded, blossoming like a dahlia. I … Continue reading Must’ve Been a Hallucination by Peter Crowley
When winds surge from the west and the guts are unearthed, there is a warping of tides. The moon is decapitated and the torso’s pull emerges from the prefrontal cortex. One has achieved this pull through struggle, yet, by god, it exists. A decision has been made and coronated on a papist balcony overlooking the rabble. Decision stretches out its hand, shielding its eyes from … Continue reading Decision by Peter Crowley
