A MUTENESS In the heatwave. It’s cold in the reading room and always have I work to do. A scholar opposite gives a little whinny Close to where I started. And far. Lake coming out the taps. Close. Close-ish. And far. Touching. Without speaking. The scholars here are hot— A woman with Tennyson hair wears […]
Louella Lester | TAKING OFF
TAKING OFF Some people like to make a lot of noise when they arrive (screaming hollow hellos/bottles clanking/scrunching cellophane wrappers from food they pretend to have cooked) or when they leave (smacking kisses/rooting about for shoes & coats/shouting promises that they are okay to drive) /// These ones don’t come or go in V-formation/ they […]
Susan Ioannou | FORBIDDEN
FORBIDDEN Invisible, the mesh where each is held within our tiny square of breath and wire-sliced if flesh would press too far, too hard forgetting, in that moment deep within another’s eyes when darkness opens into a bright pool of air, and radiant, both surface trembling—do we dare? but reeling back stare at the glinting […]
Mary Lou Soutar-Hynes | THERE’S SUPERRADIANCE*
THERE’S SUPERRADIANCE* in the motion of clouds — concepts spinning particles unseen ………….and falling, dark matter’s ……………………..steady hum — ………….………….………….……..she lives in memory ……………………..now, communes with cirrocumulus — today ……………………..less real than yesterday’s ……………………..still-stirring fires — ……………………..the gentling ……………………..strum of classical guitars, […]
Ulrike Narwani | AT HILLSIDE COFFEE AND TEA
AT HILLSIDE COFFEE AND TEA A woman orders angel-wing tea. While waiting she reads the daily horoscope a newspaper cutout taped to the counter beside the tip jar. I ask her what her fortune is for today. She’s quiet at first, then answers, paranoia. I, too, order angel-wing tea. While waiting I see a dark […]
Jenny Wong | A 1990’S PHENOMENON
A 1990’S PHENOMENON Four base pairs, seeds encoded for our superficial surfaces but where is the connection from phenome to phoneme, that gene of recessive thinking known to cause assumptions about what language should have been burned into my mouth from birth even though I have never set foot on the land of the mother […]
Sergio Reyes | BROKEN WINGS
BROKEN WINGS The night sparkles in couplets, doodled in an ancient script. Rhymes and question marks sear the horizon rise and fall then disappear amongst the outlines of the trees. They’re trying to tell us something. I rush into the night. It’s so dark. Even my shadow doesn’t follow my overalls and bare feet racing […]
Marika Prokosh | AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL
AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL The work’s not bad; you’ve been here before, and you’re lucky the boss doesn’t care about the two-year crater in your resume. Just count change, smile, shelve biographies, A, B, C, tear into another midafternoon Oreo. Those kindergarten skills are coming in handy, kid. Count your blessings: the dust on your palms […]
Shanan Kurtz | GRASP
GRASP have you forgotten the terms of this pact, the lines we once lifted from songs that remind me of bells and stems, a collection of waves, a kill, a cure, a whim made permanent, arcane did we ever lie close in the black of a room belonging to no-one, switched like breakers curved to […]