Dorian Corey was a drag performer featured in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning. After Corey’s death, police discovered the body of Robert Whorley among his belongings. Buddy, this body’s rotten outside in. Man, the stink! Who could’ve forgotten it, mummied-up in shrink wrap and a garment bag in the walk-in closet of New York’s […]
Poetry 95
Will Cordeiro: Bats
Inside the cave the whole horde’s hung. Asleep, they’re like a butchers’ rack of meat; newborns dangling inside thin wings’ furred sacs, they wake—pulse—squirm. Stalagmites bud with drips. A tunnel chokes, a ragged snag rips out its gaping mouth: smug, crinkled mugs all snuffle up, up into the shrieking light to seek the thrill, the […]
Kristin Bock: Matchmakers
Where does your monster sleep? In a cage too small for him. What does your monster’s heart look like? Like a child’s teacup, small and full of blood. What color is he? Green, of course. What does he eat? Basically, nose to tail. Cataracts? Installed. Fins? Cauterized. Fangs? Restored. Good. He’s healthy then? Yes, he […]
Kristin Bock: Compound
Come stand in the garden. Let the soft rain rinse you. Line up with the others. Hold hands. Now, kiss. Imagine your mind is a blue rose, a rose rinsed clean. Hide in the bushes. Wait for the little black stars to squeak by. Step on them. Stamp on them. Some will feel like urchins […]
Lauren Berman: serpentdream
a snake has been growing along my spine for a very long time, and it has woken up under my skin. I found a hole at the base of my neck, so I tried to pull the snake out by its head. As one can imagine, tugging at the head of a snake is a […]
Cristina J. Baptista: Monster
Where the cut has dried over, you find red crystals in your hair; like colored sugar from a child’s cupcake, lost Valentine glitter, crushed stained glass beneath your heel in the monastery. I first saw you outlined against that window, triptych, you blotting out San Sebastian’s image all mass and shadow, an absorbent dark sponge, […]