by Rickey Rivers Jr Tribulation Beads of sweat given to every woman with knotted hair, dark children hide in the cool shadows of their mothers. Walk. Watch them walk across the desert, feet blistering and burning, life forever churning. The animals stare and laugh but the mothers continue on because the mothers must be strong … Continue reading Two Poems
As She Builds Planets You must respect the space around the body for she lives to build planets for tomorrow. Dim she seems in the paleness of her shawl yet she burns with the passion of a comet. So very quiet in the hours of fresher dews she seems to ponder her daily miracles. The … Continue reading Two Poems by Fabrice Poussin
by Rae Rozman Last night, I dreamt of uson a warm fall eveningsitting beside a campfireTom Petty crooningWildflowersfrom unseen speakerspassing a bottle of bourbonback and forth. You wore your winter coat(the lavender one)despite the heat. I burned.Took off pieces of my clothingand threw themone by oneinto the firethe flames turning aubergine and amber. Naked, I … Continue reading Persephone
by Ajay Kumar Dimensions of the island- you by me. The news anchor forgets her name, on the news-there is nothing to say, the weather forecast before a blank map- we’ll see what happens. It is no paradise, there is no fresh water but we have no thirst either. You think the yellow flowers were … Continue reading New Island Revealed by Melting Glaciers
Dualities I slept with your glove(maroon, leather)woven between my fingers.It smelled like you. I awoke with your glove(leather, maroon)pressed against my naked chest.It smelled like me. How quickly you leave me.How quickly we forget. Consummation There are nights like this.Nights you rush through to seeif colors are more vibranton the other sideSolitude is an arta … Continue reading Three Poems by Rae Rozman
by Jen Mierisch I. In the nineteen-eighties, my parents’ house collapsed. Stubbornness split its beams, conflict cracked the foundation, friction wore away its floors. Walls rotted from the constant floods of bitterness and disenchantment. A lack of upkeep may have been to blame, or maybe its materials were mismatched, failed to fit, could hold no … Continue reading The Ruins
by Amanda Crum Donetta Cain was an eyeballer. Everyone else at the factory relied on measurements, and she had too, in the first year. She had poured the syrup precisely, kneaded the sugary mass until her hands ached, rolled it finger-thin against a yardstick to cut perfectly formed candy canes. It had seemed important back … Continue reading Candy Canes
by Marco Etheridge &&&Booth’s momentary enlightenment cost him three broken ribs and a moon-shaped scar under his eye. Sara was only the catalyst. The scar stayed with him longer than she did. &&&He could still see her in the old squat, rolled up on one elbow, the dirty bedsheet falling to her waist. &&&“Why are … Continue reading A Breach In The Wall
&&& By the third Friday of October, the worst of the cold hasn’t found its way east. Shelby thinks it wants to snow, but it can’t yet. Nature has to wait sometimes, too, even if only on itself. Freezing rain hangs translucent buds from the cat’s cradle of naked branches outside her house. &&& Shelby … Continue reading
by Reed Kuehn &&&The sun warmed him as the rolling waves sang their hypnotic song. Eyelids heavy, he licked the salt from his lips, content to lie there on the sand without a care in the world. &&&“Mr. Askerian,” a soft voice called to him. The sunlight dimmed and the crashing waves quieted. “Mr. Askerian,” … Continue reading I’ve Got a Dream for you
Dream Noir 