Rom-com

by Maura Yzmore A bubbly, tightly wound woman travels through foreign lands and a gruff, snarky man comes along, for a fee, only because he needs money to save his bar.  Along the way, adventure, mayhem and funny quips, them growing close, grand gestures, happy ending, the works. The leads both drop-dead gorgeous, yet relatable, human. Bus station in a village. The two asleep on a bench. She wakes up, sees their Read More

Eyes on the Sun

by Rickey Rivers Jr. When you saw me in the skyI thought you’d shoot me downbut you only watched me fly. I flew from here to therewith wings from dreams,the wind in my hair. Eyes on the sun,I cut through clouds,made you hopeyou could join this trip around this hip,around this world.Deny you not, eyes on the sun. You love Read More

Raw

by Monica Kagan I long for magic in my life…Does that sound silly? I long for wings and wandsInstead of claws and sores. Flesh strips, flayedVultures lay bareA raw heart– Rended Shrapnel shreds sisters, mother, fatherA familial holocaustA bone tableau Sylvia, Ingrid and VirginiaWeave their wounds into wordsSpiraling down a well I long for wings and wandsInstead of claws and Read More

candy floss

by Tianna G. Hansen hip bones become butter beneath your tongue // melted, salty veins are rope lassoed to the rhythm of my // heartbeat //i mold to the contour of your hands // whipped sugar & creamcandy floss between your teeth // inhaled, sweet what will remain once you’ve had your fill — a hungering, vacant hole where you used to // Read More

in a Jacksonville hotel

by Haley Morgan McKinnon this morning I wake up and I am strongerthere is sunlight through the window and I open my mouth to drink itmay it turn into new breath in my lungs I fluff the pillows that I almost tore apart last night in the grip of my grief like a snakeclutching the life from its prey except Read More

Mujer y Mono (Woman and Monkey)

by Elisabeth Horan 1938 Nothing should end this violently:Baby monkeys slide in and out Of their madres – like the slippery pea podsSo gently – The wind sabe como tocar (the wind knows how to touch)A woman’s cheeks As if they could break her openHack easily at the insides of a body So permanently destroy her –But they do not. Read More

Hole in Chest with Arrow

by Elisabeth Horan 1937 Life is something I had with youIt doesn’t matter which ulcer                          you choose Her or meMe or herLove or agonyMy body becomesa trash yard Pero mírala – Floreciendo como una mujerMás hermosa – más útil – para ti Yet look at her – Blossoming like a womanmore lovely – more useful – for you She Read More

Hurt Comes in Pairs

by Elisabeth Horan 1939 There is a woman of the dirt.And another. Two nudes in the earth. JustMe and my sister. Look how she coilsInto my belly asking for Forgiveness. I like to see her Writhe like a worm, andI step on her Sometimes – to remind Her of her smallness – And how it feels to die. And yet Read More

Leave it for Tomorrow

by Toni G. Maybe my responsibilities will wait forthe rain and not ruin the blue sky of today.I want to stay in and not worry aboutthe many errands that need to be done.I want to fall into an unmade bed, snuggledeep in lukewarm covers. I’ll eatwhen I’m hungry, not the scheduledbreakfast at 7, lunch at 1, and dinner at 8.Allow Read More

Somewhere Separation

by Rickey Rivers Jr. Somewhere a man is hiding.He’s missing a bullet. Somewhere a mother is crying.She’s missing a son. The mother may recover for she is wounded as well.Not from outside in like her son.The pain shoots from inside out like the gun. The man remains on the run. The mother prays for his capture like one who expects Read More