Poems: Issa Lewis
Heal Over Heal over, girl. Find that closet with its welcoming must and swirling dust eddies on the wood floor. Close the door and watch the window light flake down to a sliver. In here no mirror shows your face. Tuck your knees to your nose as your mother’s skirts caress your face. You can … Read more
Poem: Barbara Benoit
Her Mind Is a Jar of Fire Flies Caught as if it were original A sharp edged fork spiked Holes for their supposed need For air they died in morning As she grew older and sat On different sofas and chairs Paying 20% deductibles One therapist discovered the fire Flies living inside her Air slipping … Read more
Poems: Simon Perchik
From each funeral some dampness rushing in and hulls half wood half already end over end still remember a place being close by -it has to do with looking up though her name can’t be changed and this gravestone stays soft the way shorelines forget where to come back for water trembling just below the … Read more
Poem: Alejandra Pizarnik (translated by Samantha Memi)
The Absent Lover I The blood wants to settle Its reason for loving has been stolen. Naked absence. I drive myself crazy, I strip myself. What would the world say if God had abandoned it like this? II Without you the sun falls like an abandoned corpse. Without you I hold myself in my arms … Read more
Poem: Ricky Garni
A Quick Note to a Friend Don’t worry about not loving me. That’s what friends are for. But I do want you to do me a favor: if I am dying, I do want you to kiss me on the lips for a long time. Unless I am really smelly or am gurgling or one … Read more
Poem: Jill Crammond
Still Life: Ex-Wife Washing Dishes in the Burning House Nothing you do makes sense. You light candles just to blow them out, ask the dark kitchen for a flashlight. You dress the children in napkins, fold their pets into neat triangles, tuck one white cat in your daughter’s lunchbox. You imagine yourself a widow, burn … Read more
Poem: Timothy Gager
Meeting with Father Vincent Can you grasp the music of a thousand Gods? I can, said Father Vincent. False, is all I hear, the aggregate of everyone’s decomposition. I believe in rusty trucks, feral cats and orphans. People die for no reason, inherent wickedness knows no spirit. The stone straight pastor tells me, there is … Read more
Poem: Martin Elwell
The Search for Lizzie Marriott Tourists submerged behind camera lenses steal snapshots of cutters on the river. In this body of images, mostly blurry, a single striking moment emerges. The water perfectly reflects the red of afternoon, gently consoles the sadness of fall. At dusk, searchers return to their families. Evening lowers the shore into … Read more
Poem: Anjumon Sahin
My Bloody Feet Soiled blood clots and penetrates the crooked edges The child drinks it. Draining every bit of my body, preserving the integrity of Madhavi I belong to her. Do not search me for your presence Drink my blood but she gnaws on my marrow. Silent rushes of pain gush through my uterus You … Read more
Poem: Mark Cugini
Apology to the Broken Light Bulb after Christie Ann Reynolds The thing you don’t get is that I’ve never had the chance to do all that kitschy New England shit you used to do with all your exes once you admitted to yourself that there was no substance in the red schnapps he used to … Read more
