Category Archives: Uncategorized

by Louisa Schnaithmann I. There’s an art to leaving.Bags packed by the door,the rough suitcase, the backpack.You always have to be ready. You always have to be readybecause the body wantswhat bodies want, which isto be touched. Desired. Sometimes you can’t givethat to someone.Sometimes the rain peltsagainst frosted glass, and you cry in the bathroom.TheContinue reading “On Reading Elizabeth Bishop After a Breakup”

by Ariel Francisco for Devin Cradling a bright hangoveron a friend’s couch, sunlightstretching into the living roomfrom some open window,ferrying voices in from the patio,the smell of coffee crawlinginto my nose like sluggish ants.I could lie here under the weightof my decisions and indecisionsunder the unfamiliar shadowsof unfamiliar furniture untilI become one with this couch.ButContinue reading “A Beautiful Sunday Afternoon”

by Jason B. Crawford The only spot I ever order chicken at nowadaysIs where you can get 50 whole Wings for $23.99Where the koolaid stay replenishedAnd the grease stains the inside of the cheekWhere they keep the seasonings simpleLawrys/garlic/pepper/chili powder/cayenne/a pint of saltAin’t no sauce that ain’t hot, which we mostly bring for the friesContinue reading “The Chicken Spot”

by Gelsey Sometimes I retrace my stepsI reread old lettersWe shared togetherIt’s fantastic to say that I miss you tremendouslyYet not at allWe have separate livesWith different peopleDifferent storylinesYouAre no longer the oxygen I breatheI don’t think of you when I wake up or when I brush my teethI don’t exercise for youI don’t doContinue reading “Steps”

by Peter Koonz Pain is an Archangel Pain is an archangel Visiting flesh Announcing divine Events in our lives. My Archangel Sends His Assistant A paper cut has ruined my day, A small slit to my finger. There’s bigger things I could decry, But small pain tends to linger.

by Dena Rash Guzman Fox Mulder was too sensitiveTo tell Scully the truth. It’s out thereon Netflix. He should have stopped herfrom wearing those boxy jacketsand too-long skirts. Scully,he could have said. Scully,they do you no favors. He cared more for greys. Nancy Botwin was too insensitiveto really go for Andy. You might thinkshe wasContinue reading “This Can’t Be a Love Poem Because I Am a Poet”

by Kelly Schirmann my letter to you was a mouth& I want it propped open I imagine you underthe planet I am underso we have something to discuss where your lovers wentwhen they discovered their aliveness still intactis none of my business I am under oathto not sound so strange when I feel strangeI putContinue reading “HOLY OBJECTS AND OR SHRINES”

by Nikki Wallschlaeger The mailman does not bring me what I want, but it’s not his fault. His job is being on the streets. There are folks who want someone else to be stronger because they have jobs. So they go to the cafes & wait, read books about racial inequality & imagine participation. IContinue reading “CARMINE HOUSE”

by Samantha Eubanks I wore so much makeup and kept my hair too bright.I questioned everything you said and made your soft spot my bullseye.You see,I wanted to be like Layla.She was so easily loved.Her meat was tough,so loving her was at times a matter of luck,but when earned, she would keep you full forContinue reading “Thank You”

by House Phillips a white man cannot have rage& little boys need to act their agemeanwhile i’m about to steal another pagefrom another book i couldn’t afford off minimum wage i could spend two hundred years walkin’ across this whole land& there’s still some things i would never understandlike how can two men, one blackContinue reading “a white man cannot have rage”