by Robert Beveridge The dirt hard-packed, the eggs over-easy,the main street as deserted as ever.It’s a quiet place most of the time,more sawgrass than charlatan. Strongcoffee and redeye, and we’re allin between beauticians, eventhe beautician. Hank down the generalsells uniforms out the sideif you know the password, ice creamonly to…
by Robert Larkin I’ve decided to flowNorth and notReturn The sun risesOver my right shoulderAs the beatingOf hearts and wings slipPast overhead It’s coldAnd quite welcomingNowJust a few moreMiles until ICan rest The hills will remain quietFor some time
by Karen Mandell Morning haze, tea sipped from stolid mug,chocolate quinoa cereal munched steadilylike a barnyard bovine. Paper spread out,an X-Ray. World-sized tumors,broken bones, pockets of healing,pockets of pus. The daily.Then a tapping, a steady beat trudgingruthlessly. Metronome on? Haven’t playedpiano in months, but maybe when dusting,grudging bit of homemaking…Not…
by Robert Beveridge sung in the back with the roachesand the expressive montage. takenaway by the men in the black vanwith mickey mouse stapledto the grille. exposed to weakness,decay, and the films of Adam Sandler.delighted with the new, improvednotation for microtonal raga. broiledfor sixteen minutes, or until the boar’shead melts…
by Karen Mandell Rose boarded the bus on Oaktonand got off in downtown Evanstonto buy make up at Woolworth’s.She picked up Max Factor and Maybelline’smascara, powder, lipstick in a muted ruby,skipping liner because her eyes,dark brown, round stained saucerswere best left alone. Foundation, a dab of perfume,Martin’s yearly birthday present,…
by Karen Mandell The heavy-duty plastic crackledas I shifted my weight on the couch.Straight ahead, in front of the window,a fake lemon tree pretended to need the sun.A soon to be ex-boyfriend snickeredwhen he saw it. I agreed with himbut hated his condescension. I wasn’t upfor analysis but loved the…
by Marie Soffy Saint Fort Dancing over the edge of a cliff,cliff of a deep, deep oceanon a busy summer day,where surfboards and waves crashing.Peacefully crashing ashoreinto beautiful lullabies in our eardrums.That’s what my trauma sounds like. Sweet howling of the branchesas they move their hips side by side;while their…
by Quiarah Butler Manga and Anime convention goerthe age of knowledge grows on me and feedsmy soul, my energy, my mind, the part of methat says “this isn’t blackness; this isn’t cool”but in this new age of Black-awareness, it’s growing on me Gothic aesthetics and music shape my foregroundI’m not…
by George Freek I stare at my unmade bed.Outside, a chilling breezerustles the dead leaves,as if they were feathers.The moon is a ball of lead.I gaze at distant stars,lost in the infinite sky,as if they hadnowhere to abide.A torn shirt, hanging froma tree, waves in the breeze,like an abandoned flag,now…
by Nancy Machlis Rechtman She feels her way through the dappled landscapeCradling the memories of a time when it was filled with lightAnd hopeAnd dreamsInstead of this endless echo chamberOf lonelinessWhere she now resides. The sun has yielded to the moon’s prowessSinking slowly across the Western skyBut this is no…