Floss with a hurricaneBreeze between bicuspidsBite windin two BitchBecause she broughtDeathThough fiends forget there were endingsBefore Its a giftCradle the coastCarry the seaSister all high honeyGoldenTakes attention away from tempest Uproot all latchedToo looselyTo this landSing songs in her imagePour reverenceInto gnashing sky Redeem the breathOf fury * Gwendalynn is a gender nonconforming multiracial BlackContinue reading “Evoke the Name of Oya Knowing she Married War Clothed in Storm: Tormenta and Torment Named her Love, gwendalynn roebke”
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The Country House, Nicole Callihan
It’s too cold to open the windows for air,so I pick through the things I leftmore than a month ago, in the last decade.I put away the knives and spoons, the bowls.And sweeping dead flies into the old blue pail,I count twenty-two, their black bodies, their wings.How much can we count over the years?These accumulatedContinue reading “The Country House, Nicole Callihan”
Within Earshot, Bruce McRae
Gifted with a single senseshe heard the earthworm turningin its cot and earthen bedclothes,turning water into passage. She heard bacterial operaswith their casts of trillions.Not without effort she hearda tap root inching towards Assyria,gutting the planet, sipping at soil,embracing dolomite then splitting it. In the way atoms split and how they scream,their pains remarkably immeasurable.WithoutContinue reading “Within Earshot, Bruce McRae”
“What Is the Way to Be Very Quiet but NOT Antisocial About It?”, Ace Boggess
we have learned the alien language of self- erasure. still as if studying a book though no words fill a page before us with their sorrow & small talk. who interrupts our seated dancing, enjoyment of a song we don’t recognize over the in-house stereo? strangers talk to us whether we savor it or don’t,Continue reading ““What Is the Way to Be Very Quiet but NOT Antisocial About It?”, Ace Boggess”
Fuck you Ellen: if you sleep easy knowing your friends facilitate others’ suffering you ain’t shit, gwendalynn roebke
On the sidelinesof spectacleFeelingWickedFor enjoying the luxuries ofEmpireChocolate tastes a lot likeFamineRed, white, and blueBlurInto bombed out civilian villagesAnd mass burialsEmpathy fatigue is a privilegeBest choked down with a mug ofbrewed exploitationDon’t understand how folx can carry onBreaking bread with demonsJust because they don grinsGiving the performance of outrageCheck who sits at your tableSee whoContinue reading “Fuck you Ellen: if you sleep easy knowing your friends facilitate others’ suffering you ain’t shit, gwendalynn roebke”
Forgive Me, Ace Boggess
for sharing my will for a deadened heart,lust-numb understanding,when you wished incineration from within; for being a body that lay next to your body,not of your body any morethan the Persian is of the lioness; for having right words to eradicatestinging weeds you carried with you,never vines you dangled after; for neither acknowledging nor counteringContinue reading “Forgive Me, Ace Boggess”
We Had to Turn the Sound Down, Gerald Yelle
You were wrestling in your sleep, which left me free to explorethe outdoor museum sculpture garden cathedral in the woodsthe dustbowl shrine and warmonger’s paradisenow a dumping ground for dead batteries and cheesecloth.A gravel pit for penance and eating sour-cream and meatballs.I bore the torch to the unisex outhousewhere music still blares –so no oneContinue reading “We Had to Turn the Sound Down, Gerald Yelle”
The New Summer, Ace Boggess
Can’t stray in heat beyond a single cigarette.Sweat pulls its raincoat tight against your chest.Pollen’s a noxious vapor more chthonic than parachuting.The paper reports Lone Star ticks are spreading this year,ones that change your body so you can’t eat meat.Weatherman says spring is the new summer,which must make summer the coming ruin.Dog days will leaveContinue reading “The New Summer, Ace Boggess”
Apnea, Gerald Yelle
They slicked their hair in their mothers’ tears and when their mothers told them wash behind your ears, they’d pretend their mothers said rears –as in friends, Romans, countrymen. Their mothers said yeah, of course, be sure to wash there too. Because they anticipate the jokes –they know their sons better than their sons knowContinue reading “Apnea, Gerald Yelle”
Old Birch, Shannon Elizabeth Gardner
* Shannon Elizabeth Gardner is a graduate from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point with a Bachelors in Studio Art and a Minor in Art History. Her interest in horror and the macabre came about while exploring nature and the paranormal. The work explores the natural and organic process of death, evoking empathy forContinue reading “Old Birch, Shannon Elizabeth Gardner”
