This poem was selected by our guest editor, Joe Russo.
“You are not oblivious, the silent half-moon gap of your lips is more persuasive
than any words you could possibly utter.” Continue reading “Cognition by Whitney Walters”
This poem was selected by our guest editor, Joe Russo.
You know the thing that would make her happy is if you would use a word from the chart posted on her office wall. You see it when you look away from the perfect lipstick of her social work smile or her eyes that, pupil-to-pupil, pin to yours while she waits the silent prelude of your answer.
Continue reading “The Thing That Would Make Her Happy by Rodd Whelpley”
This poem was selected by our guest editor, Joe Russo.
“Later, I will say this was omen: how the black feathers looked scant, like scars on my windshield, how those dirty bones fell limp, so easily discarded — like there was never breath in them to start.”
“to lay my tongue/ against his most warm cheek/ to hear the sounds of
his always blushing/ my endlessly aware of the temperature of his skin”
“The skin is the body’s weightiest organ
like the crucifix on the church wall
bows and sags it, bloating it and stretchmarks
striate the plaster.”
Continue reading “On first devising paper by Tamsin Blaxter”
“The roiling of the water has subsided, leaving disintegrating moonjellies to ride the surf, listless.”
“Somehow, when no one watched, he puzzled mudslide home and winning score into a dance of grace; somehow, when no one looked, he parquetried rough splinters into a smooth tongue.”
Continue reading “How A Man Who’s Not My Son Suddenly Dances With His Cousins by John Horvath Jr”
