I, Luminescence

by Avra Margariti in Issue Ten, August 2023

α) Radiation (This Place is a Message)

What am I but an emanation
Of energy better left
Undisturbed, a ruined
Palace calling out to you
In forbidden whispers
Of far-future runes?

β) Bioluminescence, Beloved

In the... Continue →

War Dream: Bridged

by L. Acadia in Issue Nine, June 2023

Last night, I was in a grim, dusty, subdued Poland,
like a modern theatrical production imagining medieval gloom,
bleached palette, pre-industrial quiet, charred air.

Mud-covered bodies stumble larger towards me
aimlessly with insects, despair,
Ewa... Continue →

The Lady of Ice Drowned in the Rising Tides

by Anton Cancre in Issue Nine, June 2023

The burning comes earlier
and earlier each year, as we march
our way further down this angry path.
Seems I can recall passes
round the sun where snow
still fell in great heaping drifts
from the sky well into March.
Seems I can recall the time Continue →

Stairs Appeared in My Backyard One Night

by Marcus Whalbring in Issue Nine, June 2023

It took all night to get to the bottom floor
under the tree roots and the cicadas and the fossils.
Like anyone, I wondered if I’d found the way to Hell,
but there were no screams layered like torn fabric
on one another begging God’s mercy. There were no
flames,... Continue →

Spell to Raze a Tree

by Colleen Anderson in Issue Nine, June 2023

         Merlin furious, fell, can no longer
         abide deciduous, conifer, any bark
         limbed being ever since his confinement
       ... Continue →

Lunar Maria

by Eva Papasoulioti in Issue Nine, June 2023

the moon doesn’t have shores
it reflects waves, waits
for the tide

have you ever seen the sea on fire?
skin propagates flame like water distorts
depth

five oceans burned to the ground
all we ever wanted, a tree branch,
to... Continue →

King Arthur Wakes in 2023

by Tania Chen in Issue Nine, June 2023

   It's in pieces: the mind, the Kleenex box with torn openings,
   the cables and cord extensions stretched out like the markings of where a round table would be.

   The no ending, unending, infinite: the sense of loss; Continue →

A Prayer for the Surviving

by Marisca Pichette in Issue Nine, June 2023

The atmosphere is breaking.

A puddle stands in the
middle of the street, reflecting
all our cracked
and rotting dreams.

Two bubbles, slick and oily.

Two men watch
         One building folds in on... Continue →

Tale of the Beast

by Anuja Mitra in Issue Eight, March 2023

first they called me woman,
then sorceress,
then beast.

blessed in girlhood, I knew men
wouldn’t love me for my magic.
a woman must be a door
that is always open; a space
for someone else to rest in,
a... Continue →

Seafoam Sestina

by Jessica Peter in Issue Eight, March 2023

As she’s borne softly on the waves,
salt hangs aloft, brining her lips.
Palm trees sway on nearby shores,
but unease gathers in her heart.
It’s paradise, yet she’ll not forget:
her home feels like it’s not enough.

That constant whisper, “Not... Continue →