by Rachel T. Smith The song is sweet loveuntil it makes you cry, thenit’s called nostalgia. Here I can almostsee the secrets inside ofall the universe.&& Rachel T. Smith Rachel T. Smith is an American writer and physical therapist temporarily on assignment in Germany. She is a writing wanderer, traveling the world, finding tranquility in … Continue reading Two Haikus
by John L. Stanizzi 4.21.202011:51 AM59 degrees Pleasures of greens – fields, new leaves, pastures of skunk cabbage, occurrences of repeated splashes and ripples just after the frogs have leapt; nicknames for plants – bittersweet, virgin’s bower, pussy-toes, harebell, and diving wobblers, the polliwogs, are back today, flashing and flaring at the shoreline.&& John L. … Continue reading Pond
by Vanessa Maki Vanessa Maki Vanessa Maki is a queer writer, artist & blk feminist whose work has appeared or will appear in various places. She has self-published chapbooks & has several chapbooks forthcoming or out this year: the chosen one (Animal Heart Press), sweet like limes (Bone & Ink Press), decayed state (marlskarx) & … Continue reading Corner of My Brain
by Amanda Pendley stagnant hum of surf worn bodies/ washed up on shorelines/ bathtubs/ sewers/ what it means to be underneath/ passed over/ laid to rest in foggy water/ laid to bed in defeat/ in retreat/ in the crinkle of the television turning on/ tuning/ searching/ through databases of well kept facts/ tune out the … Continue reading Static
by Norman Klein That’s what he called me that morning, as my eyes opened, and both of us saw the kid lying there bloody, smaller than a bird, smaller enough to flush it down, then forgive my husband when he threw me over his shoulder to get me to the hospital, where I locked myself … Continue reading Connie Girl
by Eric Sawyers I used to wonder I then let go and started to wander I now live in wonder I used to wonder how I then stepped out and wandered far I now see wonder with my heart I used to wonder when I then opened my eyes and wandered about I now can … Continue reading Wonder
by Sarah Marquez I wonder when it will be my turnto introduce my shadow to the family,my mama in her ideal world–of good men versus bad men,us versus them. Or when the teal dresshung in the closetwill see light. * In the mornings, I prepare timelike a meal.Press preserved breathesbetween my hands.I don’t have many,so, … Continue reading Shadow as Time Swallower
by Matthew Porubsky &&&&&&&&&I’m a pebble in the desert. Toss some rocks &&&&&&&&&&and sand; enough to make a mountain. &&&&&&&&&&My hands have glowed on several occasions. &&&&&&It’s in no way a divine glow, &&&&&&&&&but enough to light the stairs to the cellar, &&&&&&enough to read by. I can live buried, learn to breathe like a … Continue reading Stand In Old Light
by Sam Rebrovich The time threads knotInside my calcium chamberWild reds, and calm purples, plum blues, and sightful greensMake a mud mess slushyNothing moves outside like sleep paralysisYet I’m not asleep Halted until the thread paths unwindScenes blurring like a broken TV screenDissonance screamsNot that one, pick me! Me! Mini fragments of me shoutI squeeze … Continue reading A Visionaries Dilemma
by Jordan Williams To grow down first, then upin a fruit filled half acremeans a bittersweet bloodline pucker-tart memoriesthat sour pop in rear mouthas though unripened grapes small, unimpressive green globesraised on trellised vinespropped up right down the center of our backyardlike a vein we ran aroundduring kickball and the landlord, Judy with her obsessive … Continue reading Raspberries
Dream Noir 