Again they’re taking a tooth, this time a molar at the very back. It’s dead, they say. Rotting the gum right through. It’s all so definite: a sweep of the occlusal surfaces; a hulking metal plate jammed in. This is the way with things gone bad. The root is where the justice is. What is […]
Poetry 81
Susanna Rich: Now That We’re Done I Need to Retrieve Something
…no, not the birthday whatever, bagged holiday, or drugstore forgive-me thing; nor the lend/misplace/forget or hand-me-over migrations; nor the fix/yard sale/consign on my behalf I’m missing some feathered part of me that swims starlight waves sage brush, chants summer dreams…just let me breathe what you never- mind: your freezer’s atmosphere, your attic fan’s exhaust, the […]
Laura McCullough: The Ways Water is Used
Her youngest daughter’s thick curly hair should not be washed every night; she knows this, but her daughter begs her to do it, loves the ritual, the smell of the shampoo and cream rinse. It is becoming a chore, the mother thinks, the child getting big enough to do this herself. Her own hair is […]
Blythe Davenport: Relief
What do you do when your sculpture stares back at you? Poke its eyes, if it has eyes? Stone pupils can’t feel pain. When your statue gazes with a judgment that says I’ll protect you from you have you done it right or wrong? The bas relief mastiff on the Fidelity building hides his nose […]
James Cihlar: Metaphysical Bailout
“Your father had an accident there: he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.” –The Tale of Peter Cottontail, Beatrix Potter My endeavor is an assemblage of tissue, bone, and nerve whose code is to lift me up. The engine of music, an enterprise of cells, a corporation of one. Even though she’s seen […]
Britton Shurley: A Plot Against Robots (after Wallace Stevens)
First Girl When I hear their metal boots clacking through the garden, trampling down the daffodils, I will dance by this patch of violets; I will call down hours of rain. Their rusty knees should halt them. Second Girl I will set the herbs ablaze— the lemon thyme, the chocolate mint, the blooming pineapple sage. […]