Laurel Silverwood
How are you feeling?
I heard of you-know-who the other day. He’s moving in with his new girlfriend.
I know things ended kind of weird between you two. I’m […]
Liam Gehrig Bach
why place our hands / in reach of forbidden fruit? / that just says, “CONSUME.”
crawling in and out / fleeting emotions unknown / and thoughts more unknown
because that which eats / is that which gets to survive / albeit alone
all eyes watch two friends / dance in mud atop the world / laughing at the shame
eyes open in dark / for so long that they forgot / what it means to close
Liam graduated from […]
Liam Gehrig Bach
my body is all burns and wires
skin and blood, electricity and fires
heartbeat heat that sticks then flows
flat waves at sea, jellyfish that glows
cannot afford sentience like mine
which batters my skull with ice and brine
a black lightbulb which refuses to shine
suppressing a thought, deleting a line
_____________________________
my brain is all slush and […]
Jayne Marek
These rhododendron leaves yellow
talismans of neglect. I asked you
to take on the yard, keep it
somehow. Summer
cracked our skins, though
there was little sun. Warblers
and tanagers came late, goldfinches
argued their wings. One slant
of afternoon sliced your chair. The yew’s
red tears already coming out.
Jayne Marek has published six poetry collections, with her next volume, Dusk-Voiced, due in 2023 from Tebot Bach. Her works appear in Terrain, Rattle, The […]
Wendy K. Mages
George had stopped eating. Looking at him, it was hard to tell how thin he’d become. His white long-haired coat scattered with calico markings concealed how much weight he’d lost. Still, it was obvious he hadn’t touched the food in his dish. I was worried.
George was born feral, an abandoned, but magnificent, kitten. I remember wearing him like a fur stole on my shoulder, when I begged my mother to let us adopt him. We already had two cats, an older Siamese and a formerly-stray black […]
Daria Anghel
There is an old Consul writing machine on the desk beside my laptop. Behind them, the silence of the green garden outside the window washes over me in a gentle wave. The silver pine tree that we used to decorate, the few times we visited for Christmas. The wisteria blooms already gone for the year, with its thick crown of leaves. The willow, that is now three times the size it had when I was little.
When I sat down, it took less than a second before I felt ready to write, […]
Edwin Brun
There is nothing like losing feeling in your face. And arms. And legs. Generally, all over really. Many would consider it a harrowing experience, and at first, I would have been inclined to agree. Yet, after a decade of panic attacks it’s hard to say that I find them truly disturbing in the same manner. Though, of course, they still bring about dread and discomfort, when I see my body lying there nearly lifeless, breath haggard, I cannot help but see a certain artistry.
In the moment of the inevitable sinking into […]
Nancy Chapple
My rented Vespa took me up and down Sardinia’s hilly roads, too narrow and tree-lined for vistas to open up before me. Had I fallen off my scooter, the sharp edges of the craggy rocks alongside the road could have gashed my legs.
Yet I alone decided when to start my day, which roads to take, where to stop for a picnic. Any time I leaned into a curve, or sped up on a straight stretch, the decision lay in my hands.
The peak summer season, when Italian families and groups of friends […]
Mark Blickley & Francesca Schwartz
“Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” Last words of music I-pod creator Steve Jobs.
I don’t remember any of my previous incarnations. This one just ended with the sound of my heartbeat replaced by booming defibrillator jolts. I can hear being zipped into thick plastic but I am not afraid. Aimless transmigration drifting will play no part in my future.
I don’t understand why I came back as a drummer, an impoverished, financially unsuccessful percussionist ridiculed for a […]
Katherine Shehadeh
If you’re reading this, I want to say that I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve done more to help you. To say something that you don’t already know about the value of your freedom or how quickly it slips away would be impossible, but I need you to know that wherever I am now, I’ll support you, always.
You’re probably wondering why of all places in the universe I chose Silwad, a small village in Palestine to make my escape to. If I said it was the rolling […]
