Finishing School by Emma Bolden
Finishing School Emma Bolden Couldn’t sugar. Couldn’t sweet right. Couldn’t rat- comb, couldn’t tease the boys with a belt and a bra, Madonna coned. Couldn’t talk lady. Couldn’t coo. Couldn’t bless the heart of Jesus till he bleached...
Sensorium by Emily Corwin
Sensorium Emily Corwin 1 in dappled sun, in wine sap apples I dab prismatic gloss atop my cupid’s bow—the philtrum it’s called, it’s chrome-like. I have a mouth & it stinks— this is where I masticate the animal brisket, the pie pumpkin & red plums, pomegranate...
Pedro Full of Grace by Marcos Gonsalez
Pedro Full of Grace Marcos Gonsalez He’s such a Pedro. Across from me, on this 4:30 a.m. Queens-bound N train, on my way to get my stomach cut open, skin excised, and flesh stapled shut, is this Pedro I name Pedro. My cousin Pedro lives in...
Barn Point by Talin Tahajian
Barn Point Talin Tahajian I’ll always be where rainbows are, forever in the Maine-bright stars, when sunsets light the eveningtide, with the moon in sparkling skies, with the rising sun each morning, with the quiet of dawn by the sea, along the beloved...