By Rizwan Akhtar The spaghetti sat simmering indifferently oil and red chili mangled the threaded massan Odor raked the air wind almost peppery made nostrils quiver,He stirred it as if turning onshe withdrew, nose chaffing like anchenes grown on strawberries, garlic scorched in the oilpaprika crackled like twigs on fire.“Too much!” she said,voice sharp as … Continue reading Ceasefire
Asphalt Cancer
By Craig Kirchner Last night I watched the sidewalk quiver,spasm as if caressed,bordered by tufts of neon moss,chameleon in green finesse.The trickle in the gutter,leftovers from a mint fresh rain,corroded bricks to urban silt,sloughed to sewers, to mud, to dust.Trees like plastic Hollywood, were cramped by raised cement.It seemed as if this camouflage,these row-house slabs … Continue reading Asphalt Cancer
Stormtroopers Advancing Under Glass
By Salvatore Difalco After my ship-in-a-bottle succumbedto self-engendered thunderstorms,I turned to war and fashioned a workcomposed of pheasant skulls and bones,some blackened with charcoal or blood,all gathered under a classic glass cloche.Battles and wars, battles and wars,that is how I approached this probeinto the darker country of man,ranging the skulls like gas masks,stitching feathers and … Continue reading Stormtroopers Advancing Under Glass
Memory Cells
By Luchang Zhu Are there two identical clouds in the sky?If not,why does this one feel familiar, like a cloud from my hometown returning unannounced?Are there two identical people on the planet?If not,why does your presence stir something in me, like B cells recognizing a second encounter?Are there two identical days in a life?If not,why … Continue reading Memory Cells
How You Know I’m Goofing Off and Not Around
By James Croal Jackson Because I’ll be standing on a stackof tasks, procrastinatingunder the banana moongrabbing the confetti tailof sun in one hand, and in the otherpetting the catof my dreams, the one stillwith wings, purringas it falls to sleep. James Croal Jackson is a Filipino-American poet working in film production. His latest chapbook is A … Continue reading How You Know I’m Goofing Off and Not Around
Mom’s Magic Carpet
By Tim Law "Mom's Magic Carpet" was originally published in the Journeys IV anthology I close my eyes and I feel her near. I know that this must be a dream, but I wish with all my heart that it wasn’t. “Hi, Mom,” I whisper to the night. The sound of familiar, but far off … Continue reading Mom’s Magic Carpet
A World Where Men Never Die
By Ha-rin She arrived in their world dressed in white, like a question no one had asked. Everything there felt too beautiful, too still—trees shimmered as if they had never known decay, waterfalls poured endlessly without losing force, and sunlight rested on the land as though time itself had stopped to admire it. The people … Continue reading A World Where Men Never Die
While He Waits
By K.F. Black “Patience is virtrue.” “What?” “Patience is virtrue!” Wally said again, louder this time. Papa had told him to collect smiles while he was gone, and Wally was very good at following directions. “Papa says so!” The man barely looked at him. He just turned back to the receptionist and slapped a hand … Continue reading While He Waits
The Drift
By Dhaanvi Jaipuriar The tide isn’t coming in; it’s a slow hemorrhageleaking through the floorboards, a salt-crustcalcifying the mahogany until the room is a reefof everything you’ve tried to bury.You navigate a hallway of doors that openinto more hallways, each one tapering,smelling of damp cedar and the ozone-stinkof a storm that refuses to break.A sturgeon … Continue reading The Drift
Sunday Night
By Julia Vaughan Pizza or ThaiIndian or ChineseI don’t feel like cookingThe end ofA winter weekendLazyThe fire’s onBeach walked this morningWith beanies onA bracing bitter windSunday’s rugby’s on TVWatching the Newcastle KnightsFiercely defending against the Auckland WarriorsHot fresh popcorn for startersDeliciously coatedBaz’s recipe of TabascoCashew nut butter and hoisin saucePizza wins tonightAnd Woolies’ naughtyLoaded lemon-poppyseed … Continue reading Sunday Night
