Molten Medium, Chloe Moulin To be a poet trying to write a poem, is trying to be as free as a naked chicken— you are undressing feathers with similes and undulating a pecking parade with onomatopoeias— trying to explain that…
Whispers, Emily Bryn Once upon a time, there was a great and beautiful giant named Pantagruel. He was cloaked in silver and fish scales. His robes were made of the skin of the river, and weaved in his hair was the…
Cotton Candy Woman, Kiara Florez Mother, in her slight accent, calls olives “Oliver.” She loves Oliver, brine salty in her mouth. Almost twenty-five years in America and she cannot differentiate between a man and a fruit, but what is the…
Forbidden, Meghan Bauman I had this dream once that felt like it had been stripped from an indie Halloween movie: exposed brick walls, threadbare fear scattered across the floor like breadcrumbs, a ghostly presence unfolding in rattling noises and too-cold indoor…
I-70 Diner, Emma Lassiter Invisibility while screaming. Telepathy with those who secretly hate you. Future sight for spoilers. Time travel while experiencing diarrhea. Summon comfort bees when distressed. The ability to shapeshift into sex offenders. Super speed within elevators. Teleportation while…
Monochrome, Emma Lassiter He pioneered the theory that if you hit a road sign with your car, it’s yours. Lifting 35 mph into the backseat, the sides were sharper than expected, slitting my fingertips. We mounted the sign back at his…
Demonology, Jack Hoye Isabel always had trouble sleeping, ever since Theodore could remember. She never made it through the night without a nightmare plaguing her unconscious, resulting in her screaming for Mom or walking down to her parents’ room to squeeze…
A Clarifying Moment, Alyssa Noel Original Calm and serene The sound of a cicada Penetrates the rock. Translation Don’t matter how calm. A cicada’s mere sound could Defeat Dwayne Johnson. Omar Dirie · George Mason University Omar Dirie is a Somali-American…
Opulent, Taharah Islam Step 1. Massage product into scalp and rinse thoroughly. Recall what she taught you about the Roman funeral: how it was the only time in antiquity that a woman would wear her hair down. How she would stand…
Dorothy, Ciera Land A few hours before Ortega taught me how to dig a grave, he was visited by El Corte — the Cut One — but my friend didn’t warn me he was going to be murdered. All I knew…
Dusk in the City of Angels, AJ Favorito I spend a cold summer searching for my own hill to die…
Rose-Covered Glasses, Margaret Wright My Grandmother’s diary entry for September 8, 1943 reads: “Italy surrendered. Permed my hair.” Growing up, I spent most of my time with her, our houses only seventeen steps apart. I’d lay on the floor looking…
Pink Creek, Louise Rossiter Winter ends, and the lake thaws: frostscape turned fairyland,flies flit through lilies, the surface serene. The boatmanunhitches his crafts at the coming of spring; the heat is aharbinger, and he its only heeder. Soon enough, three…
Poppies and WD-40, Chloe Moulin I remember when Julia and I hopped a wall by the river to recreate her parents’ wedding day. The only thing between us and that convent courtyard was a three-foot stone wall with spike-wired bars. We…
How Long Will You Love Me, Eric Tran Where else can politicians And cannon balls meet Besides steely, destructive, And inappropriate for a wedding? About the Author Tanner Whitney · University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tanner Whitney was born and raised in Seattle.…
An Ode to Breakfast, Emma Lassiter We pass each other in our reshall and I ask, immediately, how you’re feeling. You stare, dazed, thinking 3:48 am is the wrong time for checking in. You’re wrong—it’s the perfect time. Because it’s never…
Fever Dream, Emily Lawson Do not watch films only once or twice. Study them like that third trimester sonogram. Try to find the family nose. Watch film noir. Embrace the who-dun-its, the stationary car chases, mustached villains and shadows. Bathe…
The Unexpected, Anasstassiya Selezneva It took a village. One house next to another, four in a row. Cousins and uncles on each end with grandparents in the middle. It took a village to show me how to pick raspberries in the…
