Author Archives: voicemailpoems

by Liz Bowen i’m sorryi gave youa brain parasite it just feltso tinglysquirming aroundup there sort oflikethe touchof iceon the dry tongue or the prickleof a strangerlooking outfrom a darkeneddoorway it feltgentleand just occasionallyharshlike a trustedbrush i thoughtyou mightwant ittoo

by Amy Bailey I catch the shape of the table lampand its light mirroredin the blackened television screenand I’m jarred back to a long ago lamp in a long ago roomwhen the dog turns one full circle, as dogs do,as I approach the door to let her in out of the drizzle. The piney smellContinue reading “It Was November Then”

by Aaron Griffin I need to shut me up, need to pull the mandiblefrom its muscle and cease my mumbles.I put my foot in my mouth and stomp while I hold me by the teeth. Jawunhinges. cheeks rip down the middle,tearing the tendons that mold me. I kiss what’s left of my lips, and makeContinue reading “My Mouth is an Ugly Manhole of Misshapen Molars That Never Closes (Never Stops Stuttering)”

by Clementine von Radics It’s like this weird time when everyone sees you as a meal they can help themselves to, but not like a good meal, like, a sugary, stuck-in-your-teeth kinda thing. I don’t know, the way I remember it is like a steam-colored dream. I don’t know, maybe I’m just a special kindContinue reading “Explaining Girlhood To A Boy Who Has Never Been There”

by Melissa Rose I. When the beta fish diedHis body floated to the top of the bowl.It swayed next to the bamboo,a ghost caught in the currentas yesterday’s vibrancyfaded into a pale complexion. I took the bowl outsidedug a small holeand poured the contentsinto the dirty coffin. II. When we bury what is too painful to remembertheContinue reading “A Funeral”

by Greg Santos I hopped onto the Metro.The water pickpocketed his swimming trunks. Her boots reflected the Northern lights.My spear leaned against the ancient tree and had a catnap under the shade. The accordion is on its last wheeze.The vending machine isn’t really out of change; it’s just greedy. The subway pole likes being heldContinue reading “Action!”

by Taylor Gorman Most people mistake itfor silence without realizingSilence is the mistake in us.We are watching the composerAgitate. Hand on his sternum,He conducts an oceanOf nothing. He is wantingSomething from the orchestra,And the two of us are participating,In a way, enlivening this nothing.We could have done thisAt home, I say, and you shift.It isContinue reading “4’33”

by Lauren Yates It was my mother who taught me to buy clothes in the sizeI wished I were. She called this motivation. Like the time shepromised to take me to Disneyland if I could lose ten poundsin a week. The guilt of spending her hard-earned money onill-fitting dresses was supposed to make the weightContinue reading “Behavioral Patterns Of A Reluctant Masochist”

by Julia Gaskill I was taught at a young agethat my opinionwould never be importantso long as men occupied my space. I never had a say in my own household,testosterone a force I could never win against.My father – more often than not –made me cry on the way to schoolwith chastising remarks.My brother snuckContinue reading “regaining my voice”

by Tyler Gillespie From our table, I watch an old man walkto the shoreline, stripoff his bathing suit, and divedeep into the water. He startsto swim, strokeand stroke and strokeand stroke until he’s a waveuntil he’s salt. James and Italk about the water, oceanwhere he threwthe watch I gave him for our anniversary.It had belongedContinue reading “Lunch Date With James At One Of Those Cute Oceanside Restaurants”