Laurel Szymkowiak – Leaving
Leaving Next spring my grandfather’s trellised pink roses will bloom without him. My husband prunes the canes for him, anyway. My grandfather’s house shrinks in too much stillness. I miss his scent mint candy and Old Spice. Where is the pillow from his chair? From the front porch I watch barges on the river at […]
John Bradley – Things I Should Apologize For Spell
Things I Should Apologize For Spell Speaking to a smudge that once belonged to Marcus Aurelius. Nazi-actors, cinematic hair, bituminous tea, transparent teeth. My birthplace, a wheelbarrow, my birthplace, a pencil, it follows. Stray words slipping from a vague mouth at the airport: Stay afloat. Cheap, abundant cirrus clouds from Abilene, afraid of the samba. […]
Alicia Elkort – He asked what the implications would be
He asked what the implications would be if we were to love each other. I said planetarium I said hubris I said expulsion— I could see how the tenor of our time would be about eating an apple, spitting out the seeds, it was the way he didn’t care for poetry, the way he whispered […]
Molly Fisk – The Goodbye
The Goodbye What to do with my hands — her fingers curved to hold mine but not holding, taking the shape of a loose grip, in repose, outstretched on the pale blue sheet. Her eyes half-open and moving, but not furtive. As if measuring things in another realm, and she might be. Whether the new […]
Chad Weeden – Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point We dug our heels in the sand. Pelicans mobbed the surf for chum. A driftwood barge combed the horizon. Caked in salt. New year. We hadn’t said a word past Reno. Another bridge torched behind us for the hell of it. Yet there we were. Washed up. Wrapped your arms around your jagged […]
