• “if there were water” and “Frameshift Mutations” by Shastra Deo

    if there were water in lieu of hyacinth garden my kingdom is a heaven of spilled lilies -of-the-valley, dead lands empty is the sea : silent but for breath of my beloved(forbidden sight and sun break)hoards prophecy of the world and its remaking : years he has since grown deciduous—sloughs lashes like fall teeth, whites…

  • “Burn” and “Salt Water Haibun” by Courtney LeBlanc

    BURN I sit in front of the fire, the wood so dry it pops, embers rain out, a small burn marks the rug, evidence of the offense. When I met him the spark glowed hot. How quickly I reacted, knowing to let it smolder could mean a home in flames. I don’t always do this,…

  • In Defense of Laggardism by Andrew Woods

    In Defense of Laggardism by Andrew Woods

          “I KNOW WHEN I’M BEING CATERED TO, I KNOW WHEN I’M BEING CATERED TO, I WILL NOT SETTLE FOR THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR.” Car Seat Headrest, “Not What I Needed.” Marshall McLuhan’s “Challenge and Collapse: The Nemesis of Creativity” appeared frequently on my graduate school seminar syllabi. My professors believed that it…

José Guadalupe Posada