Category: Poetry

Five Poems by Geoff Anderson

Excerpts: Letters from Thomas Jefferson to Barnum & Bailey [W]e have the wolf by the ear and feel the danger of either holding or letting him loose.—Thomas Jefferson January 3, 1776 A ringmaster’s best audience is a crowdof peers; who better to understandthe plight of standing outside a cageall the while knowing the bars holdback…
Two Poems by Ally Harris

Ayreamd Color, orb ring—fur, lie, rise serious, heavyhead I shoulder mind on. Pleasurethis conversion as the ram ray sparkest thusa cranial lace over the gun-lined crag. I taught myselfthis many other things shod formamong the famine-sad window of the shearwelcomed the final element douched from rafter tatters, gapedhalf peripheral in sleep’s hood foddered film-likein a…
“locker room talk,” a poem by yarrow yes woods

i have not heard someone say grab ‘em by the pussyin any locker room. what i have heardis she just lay there so i stuck it in her assin middle school. this was not in the locker room,but at the row of lockers outside my homeroom.laughter of all kinds. this wasn’ta boys’ club. the grin…
Three Poems by Lucian Mattison

Una Trumpada Defined, punching a Trump supporter or being punched by a Trumpsupporter. Perhaps both, but that’s too egalitarian for its namesake. Le di a ese racista de mierda una trumpada fenomenal.Ese racista de mierda me dio una trumpada apocalíptico. And then you dream about punching racists in variety of circumstanceswhich only makes them more…
Poetry: Three Dead Wrestler Elegies by W. Todd Kaneko

The Grand Wizard of Wrestling Can Make You a Man The Grand Wizard can take a boy outof his everyday skin, clothe him in quasarand chrome, in husks left by constellationsbefore they rose to Heaven. The Grand Wizard stands by your side,cackles in your ear, turns your wishesinto promises, into bare knuckles. The Grand Wizard…
Three Poems by Catherine Valdez

Names I love how you wear the shade under a treeI see, even though you say I am your blind girl I hold your hand, so calloused that it reminds meof orange rind—tough, yet so easily peeled.I’m afraid I’ll expose all those chalk-like bones . I started school a week ago, a year late, and…
Poetry: Jen Karetnick’s “What We Did”

We did handstands and YOLO leaps at the Holocaust Centers.We photo-bombed other tourists at the Holocaust Centers.We fish-lipped into selfies at the Holocaust Centers.We posted Insta stories of Shuvits and Front Foot Impossibles on our boards at the gravelpits of the Holocaust Centers.We stacked effects and filters at the Holocaust Centers—Snap game so strong, good…
Three Poems by Jen DeGregorio

Jesus of Coal “I was listening to an echo.” —Nick Lowe They say coal is deadbut I’ll bring it back. Just let metouch it. See itignite. Smell its per-fumes. In the new worldcoal will help youmake friends. Rub a charred pieceon your neck to enhanceyour scent. Dump barrels of coalin front of your house for…
Three Poems by Nate Marshall

landing Surprise escapes your lips as you soarinto the sinking of having your shinskicked from under you. If you’re luckythe full nelson that folds arms origamiwill keep your knees from crashinginto the concrete. Your flight will bebrief. Pray you have enough timeto kick back into the kneecapof the third assailant. If the fourth memberof the…