In Morning

by Naomi Shihab Nye

 

The Palestinian child
does not think about being Palestinian,
but only of how his kitten
slept last night
and why is it not
in its basket.
Before he walks to …

Flood Potential

by Jennifer Kronovet

 

That’s far enough, I yell across the dry
riverbed where twigs shoot up between rocks
with leaves like mistaken tenses: was, were,
watch. That’s far enough—wrenching
the children from their …

to us in early winter

by Dong Li

when it is time
the sun sets pink on the birch
and it will be winter
we are no stranger than we were
gingered joy will have melted after
icicles …

The High-Flying Birds

By YE Hui, translated by Dong LI

Music does not matter

 

Not much poetry to read

 

The fresh air by the lake

Only helpful to the lungs

 

Throughout the year, I rarely dream

But meditate a few times

 

My life depends on others

 

Some …

Can you tell me:

by Erica Hunt

If words attire thought

what is thinking

when carnage is daily weather—met with an itch

to switch the channel—a call to the misnamed

Department of Public Safety to confront gun awe—

no words–but flesh is …

I Watch Star Trek So I Don’t Throw Myself Under a Bus

by Amy M. Alvarez

Have I become cynical? Probably. Anxiety
mounts the horse of optimism and drives

her into the ground. There is no here here
and I am trapped in the melody of mountain

and …

Self-Portrait as MRI

by Annie Wenstrup

 

For Immediate Release:

On July 1st, 2022, neurologist Jane Smith discovered the original
Ingalls Cabin. While conducting a routine MRI (patient: 36, F,
Dena’ina and white, familial history of aneurysms) Smith …

Ma hope o Nau ā Wali na Kunane Wooton

by Brandy Nālani McDougall

Auwē
this weight
of history    we nau

uwē this   history
uwē this     white stone
uwē this       story

uwē us    kaumaha we
kali us    ahonui we

kaumaha    …

When I Hum Improvised Songs

by Millicent Borges Accardi

After “One Last Love Poem” by Juan J. Morales

 

Aside from the time they might’ve
Been casting curses for others,
Helping priests for the Inquisition
Banishment and cleansings
Bruxaria, …

Grandmother

by Mary Leauna Christensen

Grandmother/ i want to cause discomfort/ squeeze these angled bones/ between warmth & the side of Your armchair/ tell me i am pinching Your leg/ allow me to stay/ …

DESCANTS

by Damian Smyth

 

1. Christmas Lights

What made it December, in the fields, was that everything
Was silent, except for the ice creaking in every blade of grass,
As if each one …

Aviary

by Anna Loughran

 

Milling about before the clinic
opened for a routine blood test,
I walked through a flurry of parakeets,
ducking as they swooped to feed
on blueberries & sunflower seeds,
& …