Someone He Loved Matthew Thorburn __________ Where did the chords goUncle Albert used toplay those chiming bellsbowls of bright waterhe raised high with both hands before his strokehis black coat always onthe silver stick pin shininghis eyes to the ceilingis that where he keeps his music we wonderedor else closed…
Read MoreAnastasia Stelse __________ Contents Most people don’t realize the stomach’spower, don’t consider it when contemplatingmurder. Forensic science has madeleaps—delving into a five hundredyear old bog body’s leathery purse—nuts, fruits, meats—we can pinpointregion, season, how long after eatingdeath occurred. We can get evencloser with the newly dead. Solidifya time of death…
Read MoreHats Off to (Marcelino) Bernal Jose Oseguera __________ We jumped out of our seatsAs high as our Nike Airs allowed us,And yelled Viva MéxicoIn spite of being reprimandedBy our teacher not to speakSpanish in the classroom,Even though it was technically recess. “El pinche indio BernalScored a hell of a goalOn…
Read MoreMicki Blenkush __________ What I Mean When I Say I’m Polishing My Glass Ball Collection Hold your anger out at arm’s length and look at it, as if it were a glass ball.Then add it to your glass ball collection. – Ron Padgett I mean the differencebetween the word light…
Read MoreRomeo Oriogun __________ Exile There’s a place I was given,A horse with its broken legs.Lord, I tend to this brief thing called life like a manCaring for a beast that eats what it loves.I can’t help this loneliness of people walking away from my eyes,It is how a city knows…
Read MoreQueen for a Day Emily Collins __________ I find my mother in the garage curled like a cat on top of the washing machine—something she hasn’t done since I was small and hurting and drunk off her love. I stand beside the washing machine and shake Mother gently. Her shoulder…
Read MoreAn Afternoon Is a Test of Faith and I am Gone Again (After The X-Files) E. Kristin Anderson __________ I confess this sin: I have accepted the beast in me. And I want it to rain.Hard. Like you, Dana Scully, I’m angry at God and in absence of Godthe universe. …
Read MoreA.M. Brant __________ Mermaid Glisten, water glow, on tailof scales of gold. Siren songrising over the mountaintoptown. Candle woman sun up.She is calling to you. Can you hearher song? She is dancing on the Ohio,her arms open, her breasts open,eyes open, mouth loud. She is callingto you, listen now. She…
Read MoreNicholas Molbert __________ On Highway 56, the Last Thread Dangling Cocodrie Over the Gulf of Mexico The truck wheezes and rattlesas potholes knock our knees to our chins. It’s been years sincewe’ve come back here. It looks ka-put, like Cindy pranked the town,a surprise 52 card pick-up then a snarky…
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