Mary McColley __________ Ajnabia I am remembering the open skies of August, how I lay at nightwatching a city creep with light, how I lostmyself in the arched stone halls of necklaces, spices, lambs’ heads how I felt so small, that I could hide between the ridges of datesHow my…
Read MoreIsra Hassan __________ A Ballad for Those Playing Dead dangerous mezzanineshoney spilt suddenlieshouse of sand practiceWestern exit strategiesgrim blessed reapera viral hum operathieving empirea repear’s balladan obscene drought __________ Star Light, Star Bright circa March 2025, SpaceX Rocket Explodes Is the satellite’s rawmaterials happyto be returning?Did the satellite’s rawmaterials missthe…
Read MoreBelow Deck Steve Gerson __________ I am an American, because my grandparents suffered through a voyage below deck. They roiledin tempests. They ate grub-infested cornmeal. They traveled without an itinerary other than anyland would improve their prior status as second-class field workers digging potatoes out of rocks.What would await them?…
Read MoreExiles A. Z. Foreman __________ Through dusk’s torn veil, where borders bleed to none,A thousand shadows shuffle, lose their names.The road is ash, the sky a loaded gun,Its stars reciting grief in silent claims.No gate holds fast, no wall can bar the weightOf feet that drag the heart through mud…
Read MoreCumulonimbus Kathryn Silver-Hajo __________ Mama used to sing to Sami and me at night, sounds of yearning emerging from deep in her chest like a trapped owl was trying to escape. Most mornings, Baba walked us to school, and he’d say he needed quiet so he could plan his day.…
Read MoreLogical Preposition A. J. Bermudez __________ I am often apologizing to my international students.Why, they want to know, are we in a classroom, at a university, on a campus?Why in a chair, at a desk, on the board? What is it to be near / below / beyond / apart…
Read MoreFoods of All Nations Shalmi Barman __________ November 6th, 2024 I never feel so expertly from hereas in the dairy aisle at 8 AM,pajama-clad, insouciantly unwashed,comparing flavored yogurts. Empires fallupon the price of eggs while we delay,exchanging greetings by the sourdoughas neighbors should. And have you heard the news?The soup…
Read MoreCabin Fever*** Edward Baranosky __________ 1In a snowstorm the last certaintiesDisappear, clinging to the pale moonrise, The edges of fir, spruce, and birchBlending with the lost horizon– The mackerel sky closes in,Where imagination is your only confidante And dreams have found your epitaph,The petrified light in winter silence. 2You found…
Read MoreNo Place to Belong Mohamed Morshed __________ I was in one of those minibuses that looked like giant rats, sitting in the passenger seat, with the two back rows empty, speeding down one of Aden’s coastal roads toward a refugee camp. The Arabian Sea stretched far into the horizon cutting…
Read MoreTrim the Cauliflower Rhys Ramsay __________ My father’s English is broken, which suits him just fine. He’s never been one for conversation, which can be nice, for a while—he listens, and not just to reply like some do. Between us, we speak only in our mother tongue. Like a secret…
Read More