This issue features
photograph by Fayethequeen93,
art by Edward Supranowicz,
poetry by Yahia Lababidi,
poetry by Andy Oram,
poetry by Julie S. Paschold,
poetry by Landen Raszick,
poetry by Jake Rinloan,
art by Edward Supranowicz, and
poetry by Allison Whittenberg
Fayethequeen93
A Child Looks
© by Fayethequeen93.
Yahia Lababidi
Say Something
If you’re uncomfortable saying Genocide,
say mass murder,
say boneyard,
say unmarked graves,
say pity the children
say humanity under the rubble…
say Lord, forgive us
the enormity of our sins
At least, say not in my name
I’m waiting to hear from you
Please, say something.
2/15/2024
Copyright © by Yahia Lababidi.
Edward Supranowicz
Fantastic Journey
Copyright © 2023 by Edward Supranowicz.
About the Artist
Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is A Jar, The Phoenix, and The Harvard Advocate. Edward is also a published poet who has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize multiple times.
Yahia Lababidi
Choices
It’s difficult, in times like these
not to become radicalized —
the question is: will it be
by all consuming hate or Pity?
3/4/2024
Copyright © by Yahia Lababidi.
The Eclipse
Where were you
during the apocalypse
on the other side
of the world?
Did you pause
to observe
a moment of silence?
Did the extermination
of the other half
interrupt your sleep?
Did their absence,
somehow, disturb
your festivities?
Did you notice
the eclipse
is here to stay?
2/19/2024
Copyright © by Yahia Lababidi.
Hungering
In the midst of darkness
and ugliness,
I hungered
for light and beauty
I found it
reading and writing—
poetry, mysticism,
then silence.
1/17/2024
Copyright © by Yahia Lababidi.
To view/listen to the Work on YouTube, click on the link below:
About the Author
Yahia Lababidi (@YahiaLababidi) is the author of twelve books of poetry and prose. Lababidi’s most recent works are Palestine Wail (2024) a love letter to Gaza; Quarantine Notes (2023) a collection of his meditative aphorisms; and Learning to Pray (2021) spiritual reflections. He regularly posts short literary videos on his YouTube channel.
About the Videographer
Tim Pieraccini lives on the South Coast of the UK, with 3,500 books and a similar number of DVDs. When not writing, or attempting to reduce his TBR pile, he can be found videoing performing arts students and editing the results. He also made a feature-length film, All Heart, which is on YouTube. His writing has been published by Flame Tree, the Triangulation Anthology, Doctor Who Magazine and Dragon’s Roost Press. The Triangulation story, F Sharp 4, are featured in The Best of British Science Fiction 2018.
Andy Oram
Passacaglia
I wish you would
not slow down before the recapitulation
but perhaps even accelerate
into the composer’s repetition compulsion
I thought the piece was
an interlude
but it turns out to be a rondo
With elements of a passacaglia
La Follia endlessly improvised on
Copyright © 2024 by Andy Oram.
About the Author
Andy Oram is a writer and editor in the computer field. His editorial projects have ranged from a legal guide covering intellectual property to a graphic novel about teenage hackers. Print publications where his writings have appeared include The Economist, the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, and Vanguardia Dossier. He has lived in the Boston, Massachusetts area for 50 years. His poems have been published in more than 50 journals.
Julie S. Paschold
Hunger is a Naked Ribcage
Hunger is a naked ribcage,
Desire a bleeding heart.
The loss of you fuels a rage;
Emptiness only starts
To ease the pain inside
Where your memories reside.
Hunger is a naked ribcage;
A harvest of dusty, empty husks;
A book devoid of words on every page.
There’s a chasm in the sky at dusk
Where the sunset, painted, should be.
I close my eyes, I cannot see.
Desire, a bleeding heart
That languishes in its yearning
Would rather be ripped apart
Or spent to ashes in its burning
Than be separated from, or learn a flaw
Belongs to their love, a feeling so raw.
The loss of you fuels a rage
That shrouds my brain with frustration.
From this world I’d rather disengage
Than experience further enfatuation.
Was it love? Oh, what a death
To steal through grief, my every breath!
Emptiness only starts
When thoughts in my head stop spinning.
In order for this despair to depart
I must launch a new beginning.
To heal, to get a chance
To live again…oh, to dance!
To ease the pain inside
I float it away like a bubble.
No more will it abide
With me, collecting like rubble.
To let go, such a free feeling.
I am outside; no walls and no ceiling!
Where your memories reside
I have the corner locked up tight,
And seeing all what Nature can provide
I step into her magnificent light.
To move on, grateful and peaceful and glad,
Eager to continue the journey I’ve had.
Copyright © 2024 by Julie S. Paschold.
Bodies
The ego drives a fool back
sliding on a moment,
sleeping on a pillow
from last Thursday.
Can’t get the etchings
out of my mind;
making my skin crawl
as the temperature rises.
Itching each inch all
towards the last of the light,
cat’s cradle purrs in
the dark of the night.
Take off my glasses
and the world goes fuzzy
around the edges as
if all is undefined.
We bodies are only bones
wrapped in flesh and blood,
between these cells only air.
I have read we are composed
of mostly water;
it is no wonder I’m drowning
and everyone else is floating away.
Copyright © 2024 by Julie S. Paschold.
About the Author
Julie S. Paschold (Tansy Julie the Soaring Eagle) is a queer disabled poet and artist from Nebraska. They have their BS and MS in agronomy from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Their first book, Horizons (Atmosphere Press) is a collection of poetry honoring soil, one of our nonrenewable resources. Julie has been published in several publications, including Plainsongs, The Awakenings Review, the Nebraska Writer’s Guild, The Raven’s Perch, and The Radical Teacher, and several publications on medium.com. Their poem “Multitudes of Blue Arrows” was a semi-finalist in the first Kate Sommers Memorial Prize in 2023, and two of their chapbooks won honorable mention in contests by Writer's Digest in 2021 and 2022. Julie sells their sketches at Ravenwood Crystals and Art Gallery in Norfolk, NE. For more, read their blog on https://medium.com/@jpaschold or their author website at https://jpaschold.blogspot.com/ .
Landen Raszick
The Lunch Lady
for Rosa
She’s as you may envision her,
a netted bunch of frizzy hair,
big and sometimes boisterous
with an oh yeah, buster?
but usually,
beyond acrylic pane and warming tray,
she is known
as only one of the aprons.
When she brings her son home,
his father’s on the patio
smoking, reading books
and drinking bourbon. And she cooks.
No wonder
she falls asleep in her La-Z-Boy recliner
as her boy plays Roblox and does homework.
The pool is filled with dirt.
The green satchel
sits by the kitchen table.
The boy is on the phone
when he reaches down.
She is asleep.
I want her to sleep
because on the other edge of that gulf
is the bullet
lodging
into the brain.
Sleeping, she survives;
sleeping, he lives.
Copyright © 2024 by Landen Raszick.
About the Author
Landen Raszick is a poet and musician from South Florida. He earned his MFA in poetry from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Smartish Pace, New South, Bluestem, The Hopkins Review, and other literary journals.
Jake Rinloan
High on Astronomy
for Neil deGrasse Tyson and the late Carl Sagan
The torches you carried
Brightened the cosmos within us
Being men of science was not enough
You also served as
Interpreters
Explorers
Educators
And Ambassadors on behalf of the stars
You made unimaginable realities
Something we could grasp
Not just in our minds
But with our hearts and souls
You’ve done this with your humanity
As much as your science
All the while being Cosmically Cool
You taught us we are made of
The same stuff as the stars
And with childlike wonder you showed us
How to look at the heavens
And gain a deeper view
Of ourselves
Copyright © 2024 by Jake Rinloan.
Art Walk
I walk across a work of abstract art
A mosaic of yellow, red, orange and purple
Spread below me in all directions
It remains undamaged by my footsteps
A thick, wet mat of autumn leaves
My eyes soak up the shapes, patterns and hues
With each step, I gather the beauty into my being
While hoping to better understand the artist
Copyright © 2024 by Jake Rinloan.
About the Author
Jake Rinloan is a native Californian who has lived much of his life in Washington State, with stints in Finland and Canada. He is a University of Washington graduate who is passionate about reading, writing and outdoor recreation. Most recently, Jake worked as a project director for the California chapter of The Nature Conservancy. He has been published by The Summerset Review, Wales Haiku Journal and Chico News and Review. Visit: https://jakerinloan.com
Edward Supranowicz
Smooch
Copyright © 2023 by Edward Supranowicz.
About the Artist
Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is A Jar, The Phoenix, and The Harvard Advocate. Edward is also a published poet who has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize multiple times.
Allison Whittenberg
Loop
in your life,
you will have something that you cherish
and you will nurture it,
tend to it,
love it,
call it beautiful
because you made it beautiful
that’s human nature
in that same life,
some people will come along
destroy what you made,
rip it,
tear it,
crush it,
stomp on it,
marr it,
turn it ugly…
because that’s human nature
Copyright © 2024 by Allison Whittenberg.
About the Author
Allison Whittenberg is an award-winning poet, short story writer, playwright, and novelist and a Teacher for the Indiana Writers Center. Her novels are Sweet Thang, Hollywood and Maine, Life is Fine, Tutored (Random House 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010). Her work has appeared in Flying Island, Feminist Studies, Inconclast, and The Ekphrastic Review. She is the author of the full-length short story collection, Carnival of Reality (Loyola University Press, 2022) and novella Sane Asylum (Loyola University Press, 2023). Whittenberg is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. She currently lives in Philadelphia.