By Glenn Marchand Sound is made into a desert. Excellence is a ritual. Earth is full of rooms. Each curtain has been drawn back. We see diaphanous springs. We praise rebirth. I was a young iconoclast, at best, I pondered it. I was an unhealthy seed, infused by madness, taken by hopes and skies, dungeons … Continue reading Earth & Sound
Hold that fear
By Fikile Dlamini Pound, pound, poundBlood vibrating through my veins Stomp, stomp, stompI burst through the city of my mindDarting in and outI will not stop lest I hit the groundFace to faceOne must go down; the pound or the stompI am a child; born in the wildForced to reconcilePredator and preyLook up at the … Continue reading Hold that fear
Nyongyera
By Birungi Gillian There is a certain mystery About how our eldest brother was born Nyongyera is his name It translates into add me moreIt's like my father asking God for more kids But we are not sureBecause when the second was born MwesigwaTranslating into Trustworthy We lost the connection To whether God was asked … Continue reading Nyongyera
Frost
By Dianne Elizabeth Casey Air hits like a freezer door opened,that sudden solid cold.Light catches the valleys :pearls dropped from the timber.Branches scatteredlike a child let loose with glitter :too much, everywhere,gloriously wrong.A stillness that travels back,shadow and frostolder than the street.The breath held.Overnight, frost reads the world back to us :the structures always there,invisible … Continue reading Frost
Forged in Solitude and Shadows
By Charles C. (Charlie) Gaines Just a boy in ragged blue jean shorts barefooted, sharp witted, and fearless,I roamed the shadows of cedar covered hills and waded mossy creek-beds from dawn to dusk in solitude.Tarzan or Hercules, Roy Rogers or Daniel Boone, depending on the day and where my imagination took me.Built waist high forts … Continue reading Forged in Solitude and Shadows
On What Becomes
By Louie Rivers Not a cruel place,only a place that does not explain itself.A door left open in weatherthat never decides to enter or leave.Wanting exists herewithout promise of arrival—a current that keeps directionbut refuses destination.A glass left out overnightcollecting the shape of air.Known and unknownmove through each otheruntil the boundary forgets its duty.Young and … Continue reading On What Becomes
Check Out
By Edward Johnson The girl in the Plaid Pantry is the only therapy I’ll get tonight. Can she see that I’m careening? Past the point of purchase shrines to batteries, energy drinks, Nicorette, past the temple of various jerkies. Can she see I’ve crossed a line? That I’ve let go of the kite string? I … Continue reading Check Out
Breakfast
By Luchang Zhu Morning in Houston or Hong Kong,or somewhere in my dream.I found a narrow alleywhere I could smellhalf of Southeast Asia.A diner called “Ding How,”a name stranded in 1945.The table was sticky.The menu was sticky.A bowl of Vietnamese beef pho.A cup of Malaysian white coffee.The steam and fragrance riselike incense smokesearching for heaven.In … Continue reading Breakfast
Black Forest
By Yurii Tkachenko I approached the black forest.It is a burnt forest.Black forest closer becomes gray.I entered into their forest.I walked and thought about what ahead.It’s still the same burnt forest.But I saw a flowering tree inside.I came closer.I saw a blue fish on it.I walked around.And I was surprised.But I didn't dare to take … Continue reading Black Forest
The Watcher of Kaimana
By Meerub Tariq Originally published in The Synecouth Gazette I have stood here for a century,Humming the ocean’s endless riff.I pass each day in a new reverie—I’m a lighthouse on a rocky cliff.The waves whisper me their arcana,From mighty mountains of Montana,To the endless heat of Savanna—They call me The Watcher of Kaimana.My coat has … Continue reading The Watcher of Kaimana
