By Daniel de Culla Isabel’s photo By the legitimacy of my epistolary friendshipWith Moradilleva EjidhovaAnd Votijova Cotarronova21-year-old students at the Facultyof Philology and Artsof Urgench State UniversityIn Uzbekistan, in Central AsiaOn the Silk RoadI wanted to show myself generous and nobleInviting them to my town for gazing in loveMoradillo de Roa, in BurgosWith all expenses … Continue reading Visit Rita’s Winery
I Have Some Questions for God
By Hossein Hakim (An Abecedarian Poem) Another day starts in this town of minebeautiful tall trees are all around chasing each other, two baby squirrelsdogs running around, joy in their eyesEverybody seems so happy in this townfeather of a bird is on the ground, passage of timegirls are in the playgroundhugging the colorful butterfliesIn the … Continue reading I Have Some Questions for God
La Serenissima: on the way to Dorsoduro
By Jessica Ursell streaming out of Santa Luciathe steps of the station are slick from the soles of the soulsnewly arrived in this watery Eden collars up hoods onpacked tightly wind cold and crisp washing wavelets from the lagoon we waitto boardthe Venetian vaporetto as it bobs and brushes along the dock"baggage below" bellows the … Continue reading La Serenissima: on the way to Dorsoduro
As a Kite
By Mike Turner Lift me as a kiteInto a cobalt skyThat I may waft with the breezeFloating with spun-sugar cloudsGazing upon the receding Earth belowPassing from a smidge to a blur to a moteClimbing higher and higher‘Til I pass the azure fringe of day to nightBecoming one with the starsDusted diamonds against obsidian heavensShining reflected … Continue reading As a Kite
For Therapy, I Mix Metaphors
By D. R. James From a frozen wedge of machine-split pine,tossed on this settling fire, one frayed, martyredfiber curls back and away like a wire, thenflares, a flame racing the length of a fuse.Imagine this an innermost strand, a barely-dirttwo-track off Frost’s road less traveled, a thin, trembling thread of desire, the uncharted blue veinof … Continue reading For Therapy, I Mix Metaphors
A Blue Body in a Black Tab
By Aritra Basak Morning leaks in slowly, like spilled milk across the sky.I open my eyes, though I was never really asleep. My body feels like it has been placed in the wrong century. My hands are not mine; they’re extensions of some old machine that hasn’t been oiled in years.The laptop stares at me … Continue reading A Blue Body in a Black Tab
The White Subaru
By Maya Rawitch Originally published in Love and Loss Epiphanies self published by Cheryl Lunar Wind. She sits in my white Subaru, balls of her feet digging into the mat meant to protect her from the heat. She lets her gaze drift out the window, trying to will the pine tree’s sappy scent to sift … Continue reading The White Subaru
Ponder about the Nature of Color
By Alex Andy Phuong The world of cinema beganWith black-and-white,Along with shades of gray,And yet,Within the reality of every dayIs a world filledWith the wonder of color,So ponder deeplyAbout the nature throughout the EarthAnd see all of its beautyFor what it is truly worth,And the miracle of birthPermits people to live,So remember to forgive,And let … Continue reading Ponder about the Nature of Color
A Slow Decline
By Brian Ji Farmers wake, farm their fields. Their wives tend hearth and home, chickens, pull milk from cows, slopthe pigs. Fishermen struggleagainst fleets of slowly departing commercial ships, haul in smaller catches of ever-smaller fish. But entangled seals barbed in wire loosely fit, don’t care, burgeon swollen into a razor sharp ring cuts through … Continue reading A Slow Decline
Forgiveness
By Pauline Olthof-Youn A sliver of hope that there can be change, And holding out an olive branch to you, Wrapped up in an apology, like a dumpling, Loud cries of joy and relief are emitted Like the sound a bookshelf makes when it clatters and shakes On an eve when we are playing vinyl … Continue reading Forgiveness
Academy of the Heart And Mind 