We fell asleep in a bush the other day It sounds unpleasant but it was just what we needed You see we were all just trying to escape the things we weren’t ready to face yet Laying under the dome of the branches watching the sunrise through the leaves gave all three of us hope … Read moreWait for the Sun by Devon Hulick
Some names escape me, here one day, gone the next. “Magnolia” disappears, an ancient genus, magnolia, but I forget the word— a pearl lost in murky waters despite all my groping in the mud. (Ah, the mud. Might a pure lotus rise from this ooze?) Without warning, the word returns, big and bright as a … Read moreFugitive Flower Names by Alan Swope
Filled with pained accomplishment. “Por fin, lo logramos.” “We made it.” “Este sacrificio lo hicimos para ti…” And we made it because you made it. We made it past -and despite the lecciones machistas de tu padre. We made it past the gentle beatings de cucharas, cinturones, and electrical wire. (And the brutal beatings of … Read moreThe New American Gothic by Mario Felix
we snack on cashews and peeled pear slices from ziploc bags we sit in riverside park and watch the teens skateboard we think about the past and scream fuck and laugh and feel in our hearts that the world is so real and so fake at the same time. we meander and flop like a … Read moreUrban Tableau by Louise Kim
It takes a savvy hunter to teach that the size of a dog’s canine tooth is no guarantor for constant cassoulet, As living in a mansion is no automatic mirror of affluence and peace. If only she knew that integrity is the plinth- Upon which success berths; she wouldn’t abandon the matrimonial house, and promiscuous … Read moreMind Over Matter For The Uncouth by Sheriff Olanrewaju
Mixed is a dirty word. A constant reminder of two separate things forced together. A bastardization of purity. Did you know you split me in half every time you utter that word? Disoriented Essence/less I have to ask myself Which part of me was thrown in First? Diaspora or kinship Kinky hair/light skin Better yet … Read moreDirty Words by Vincente Perez
Shadows grow and wane Like radish seeds and lemon trees Like your vines exploring my skin The wind swaying along the shore I hear the stomps and the skids The boom and the crash The vibration of decay Of a beautiful facade A taste gone sour Aphids on its leaves Rot within its roots A … Read moreWhen the Waves Crash and the Candlelight Flickers by Claudio Yurdadön
Love born of amniotic fluid and blood, mixed equal parts of both. They say a baby doesn’t know itself apart from its mother, and this is true of her too. How she ached, breasts leaking, at the sound of your phantom cry. Her arms like phantom limbs, foreign til the minute you laid in them. … Read moreLove in Liquid Form by Liz Márquez
I stare out the window of my second floor apartment, feel such an insignificant and nebulous thing. Trapped in blackness, my passions garble and wilt. Inside the glass, reflections crack open its own cynical chant. Screw you, girl. Eye lids red and swollen, I can’t leave even if I wanted to. I’m infected, have no … Read moreBare Bulbs and Salty Tears by Juanita Rey
Every time you place your hope in the upper shelf of the closet, there will be a crash. They say a metal must break to avoid death so you will let your heart bare open until it begins to bleed, only to convince you hearts don’t shatter like a ceiling hearts, they ooze out a … Read moreHopes I Thought I Threw Away by Anushka Srivastava