"Welcome to the Village with All of the Boyfriends" - Brandi Wells, 2018
a letter from the editor
In an interview with SmokeLong Quarterly, former Black Warrior Review editor Zach Doss sums up his creative process: “Magic? I’m going to say magic.” Brandi Wells, in her introduction to this publication, writes that Zach’s work (or, his magic) displays his longing — “not just for love or happiness, but for a wilder, stranger world.” As Editor, my hope is that this tenth edition of Boyfriend Village magics us all closer to a wilder world, one which would make Zach proud.
Playground Boyfriend is a love letter to play and imagination.
our playground
VSS
Bryana Dawkins iridescent rain–a bruised shrill / vibrating in increments, like hunger /
two roads diverged
jerald lim (sunlight crochets) a yellow wood (is balm for cynicism)
T-Shirts at the Airport
Anna Drasko O! Look. My wife O! Look. My wife’s last nerve. O! / I want to touch it.
AN EXEGESIS
Griffin Rockwell STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT
[thought] experiment
Josh Corson The only way to save them is to let the man die. You look around to see if anyone’s recording you contemplate the choice.
Admission=1 Tooth
Bethany Bruno We made a state park because the men in polos said the real one was coming soon, and girls learn early what coming soon means.
Cum Sonnet with Gender Reveal
Gray Davidson Carroll When the doctor pulled me from between / my mother’s hips, he mistook my penis as proof / of a preexisting condition.
How to Summon Sylvia Plath's Ghost, You Stupid Girl
Juliet Kahn Will you let me smear chicken with caviar, now? Will you shut the fuck up about your ex with the “Lady Lazarus” tattoo?
nightwhispers & Knock Knock
Yalonda JD Green first he puts his mouth on you / then he gets all on top of you right? / keke says there’s something about a snake / a snake!?
dirge in mario kart skies
Macks Cook on the wii u can / drive backwards / for a long time / with nothing / turning u around
Some Tale Told By The Savages
Irene Villaseñor Cook’s map is defective. / Impossible for me to correct
Prelude & Alteration
Joe DeLong not every arrangement is ideal / you may encounter a rush of events
Qi
Raja’a Khalid It was right after Abba left for good that Amma started relying on Ms Ling for so many, many things.
split butterfly abecedarian contrapuntal haiku with moth holes (or, abcd elegy)
Marilyn Gates don’t traipse inside me like that. / fire up. can you dance like / habit isn’t begging.
personal statement
Quinton Okoro i am delicious and paying for it.
