Poem
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Amateur Hours
by Jeffrey Thompson How can I finish anything when my first instinct is always wrongand my second instinct is to trustmy first instinct? All the wordsstand up straight and blamelesson their shelves but soon I can’t place them anymore.They are the spines of books I don’t remember readingor someone else’s family photos.They are an empty… Continue reading
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i drive home from work—
by Elizabeth D. Jennings the sun sags lower in my windshield than it did last week. i can’t blame her; the weight of it all, it makes a girl tired. i think i’ll nap when i get home, curl like a cat on top of the covers, curtains open so the pink-strained evening can get… Continue reading
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airport at the end of the year
by Marcy Rae Henry we drive softly, before light begins, rain, fog—time everywhere but hard to see. we’re quieter than when you arrived, already redefining our space.after i miss the exit, we make a loopadding ten minutes to the journey.people say i love you for little wisps and twingesbut i don’t tell you about my… Continue reading
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Birdwatching
by Katherine Garrison These birds are always raising the stakes.When I go out, I want to see a shrike,but instead, I am surprised by a hawfinchwhich are rare to see here, as in red listed,and I think that’s probably a good reasonto not raze through the forest in front of melike swifts razor through clouds… Continue reading
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I Forgot to Visit my Mother Again Today
by Mark LaMonda I say that I am a person who does not make lists,yet I find them occasionally on my kitchen counter,in my own hand.I forgot to add water to the vase.The flowers are dead.There is beauty there,in the vase of dead things.There it is – Third item on the list – Add water… Continue reading
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A Small Apostasy
by Samantha Lucia traded the man-god for the Mother original sin for humanity divine blood-washed for earth-rooted guilt for freedom suppression for voice piety for peace heaven for earthSamantha Lucia is a queer poet living in the American South. This was not intentional. Her work lives where documentation becomes divination. Publications include MENACE, Twisted Tongue,… Continue reading
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Road to Hana
by Alan Perry —Maui, HawaiiNearly every turn in the 64-mile highwayproduces a little nausea, a chicaneof narrowing switchbacks that move our equilibrium from brain to stomach.What are we searching for aroundthe next bend that curls back on us,stuck in a subcompact rentalelbows bumping at each S-curve?The tour guide said a fun experience,the couples counselor, a… Continue reading
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Two Poems by Roxanne Cardona
Landscape With Cart and SilenceJune 12,1948,one day after Gag Law 53 passed—Puerto Ricans must pledge allegiance to the American flag. To sing, speak, write, or fly a flag for island independence was to risk ten years in prison. Birds hold their song. Nothing slithers. Not a single feather falls. Lizards tilt their heads, disappear beneath… Continue reading
January House Literary Journal 