by Margot Durfee a brown leaf drifts lazily through the air, pirouetting and fluttering until it softly lands on the cobblestoneonly to be crushedunder the sole of a dirty white sneaker. the air is crisp, every sound, from the hollering of children, to the music drifting through kitchen windows, to the ringing of bike bells isclear, brighttrees rustle as their remaining leaves depart. small, grey … Continue reading MEI-LIN
by James Himberger Before him a desertCrowned in glassScratching its lifeFrom the dim beamsOf the Pleiades.Of what little comesMuch is made of it. The precipice beckons.New modes and disordersHe contemplates.A stone’s throwWill break the feet of clayAnd fell the colossusConstructed against itself. Behind the porticoStatesmen sigh, perplexed.Sprawled on the arms of clocks.When all veils are liftedThere is little that can be done. Amid the shattering … Continue reading Mercury’s Emperor
by Sarah Goldstein this river, like allrivers, has at last run dryshe no longer asksif I thirst, if I wanderas she goes to fetch water these questions that, solong ago, my ears once heardthese crumbling words, flow—sink and are swallowedperhaps become fish この川はあらゆる川と同じくもう涸れてしまった水を汲む彼女もはや尋ねぬ 渇いたかさ迷えてるか飢えてるか昔聞かれた言葉が流れ魚となる Continue reading Dead Fish
by Matthew McGovern I in my reclaimed canoewatch the man prepare to fish.I’d be remiss not to mentionhe looks and fidgetslike Elmer Fudd Wearing a ruddy red sweat, bumblingbeside his Toyota Tundra, brimmingwith every which implementforemost among whichis his mechanical winch He lowers the two-oared rowboatsaves himself excessive strain,and he cannot containa wry smile aimed at meseated low on a lichened stump He returns to … Continue reading Gizmo
by Megan Amero how easily i seem to let myselfharden in the moldof an alien existence, not a dropseeping through the cracksin the fight to forgetthis wasn’t always normal. i was often told, in between memoriesof childhood ease and clarity,that if the world managed to end,one might still find cockroachescrawling among a landscape oftwisted iron and rusted skeletonsand stagnant pools of toxic water. though i … Continue reading thoughts of a cockroach
by Jess Kamin Bitterly, lying crooked on the bedI could kill a man by taking his sweet face in my hands and snapping his neck upwards,I could kill a man while he’s on top of me, out of fear and insecurity,Or watch him kiss my neck, wonder when the right time is for me to reach my hand down, fumble with the zipperNow, or maybe … Continue reading Lying Crooked on the Bed
by Megan Amero i heard you on the phonethe other night, whispering wordsi used to dream of, held close to my chestlike the promise of spring, your voicecutting through the staticslicing my nebulous mind into ribbonswith the cold steel of certainty. i want you. imagination made load-bearing,substance inspires far more terrorthan the airy wisps of thought i spininto a tapestry of my own design.life’s patterns … Continue reading weaver’s nightmare
by Emma Stout Sometimes I want to have three kids but then I remember that Global Warming is a thing.Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to do cocaine but then I remember that my nose hasfaced enough from 19 years of seasonal allergies.Sometimes I peel almost, just almost, the entire orange in one strip.Sometimes I consider buying a ticket to Coachella but then … Continue reading How to deprogram a person
by Kyle Burton Begin the deep dig: I knew youIn the dark.I knew you hard.I knew you wingless and submerged,Devonian,In the great sea. You knew me willful and callous tillWe dulled our teeth on each other,We kneaded each other soft.You knew meAlways with my eyes up,Looking past your face. The sun through the surfaceLooked warm and felt cold.It was all I had known.I marched you … Continue reading Devonian – The Sting Ray
by Emma Stout You think that knowingthe velocity of the earthwill stop it from spinning. And so, you write the formulain your head While hacking at the edges While watching their heads lift back a little too far You hack andyou hack untilthe knife is slippery with juice Until even Orion noticesyou’re not hackingTo find the centerTo release the pressure They stop laughingwhen the spritz … Continue reading Communion of the Coconut
