Victoria Benefield suddenly the color falls to its death and i see you standing there pale and scrubbed of rosy cheeks and irises isn’t it strange to be so cold? it used to be summer sometimes and we would jump in the river the water never warmed and neither did we frozen like icepops on… Read More eulogy, or happy birthday

Peter McGee Trumpet man! If I were I one to charge to the front of firing lines, I would have leapt through the store front window to shout: “Sing high the sad dignity from the beehive in your Sack, lean close to Panera bread window so their Playlist might be drowned out! I’ve got only… Read More Trumpeter outside the window of Panera Bread

Zoë Huettl Whenever a new kind of knowledge makes claims to a superior account of the world or of humanity, particular sets of experts will rise to the occasion. Most obviously in the case of neurons, they are cognitive scientists of all kinds. Less obviously, they include pharmacologists. -Emily Martin, “Mind Body Problems” American Ethnologist… Read More Crazy

Zoë Huettl with descant: a secondary vocal melody Maybe you wore out all of your spells, said the words a few too many times and rubbed away the charm, Maybe you left the enchanted words buried inside a city of walls, for string to lead me through–Where you lost me doesn’t matter (with the spool,… Read More Upon (Realizing My Lover Had Been Consuming Me)

Albert Ko On polished floors we step, and pause to gazeAt lofty angels dancing far above.The walls we pass are gold and rosewood madeTo emulate some long forgotten hall.Among us glide the lofty angels here.Like us, they seem, but fairer, robed in silk,And more than that, assurance is their song,By stride and postured poise and… Read More A Marble Dream

Michael Vedder I’ve always wondered how you saw the world,So I took some time and a ballpoint pen,Writing until the pen went dryAnd my words became inkless paper indents,So many questions I had to ask. Was it looking through thick dusty church windows?Or perhaps it was waiting at stoplightsPerpetually red at midnight intersections?Was my skin… Read More I feel as if I might be vanishing

I.      Identity – Age 3, Jordan In a booster seat in the back of the car, I pondered, overwhelmed by the idea That people were from places And that I never knew of such a thing ‘Where am I from?’ I asked ‘You’re Palestinian,’ she said ‘Just Palestinian?’ ‘Just Palestinian.’ And that was that. II.     … Read More Truth

Michael-Ellen (Mikey) the dream of everyone who looks like meis to forget dicks exist.my girlfriend’s ex not-really-bf wears a dangly earring now.i hate it!!! he’s straight.and he’s got a dick.i mean, so do i but it’s the silicone kind you can forget on the stovefor your roommate to find the next morning(sorry alec). when i’m… Read More i’m trans for context

Michael-Ellen Walden “These colonies are testimonies,” he tells me: Daddy sees God in honeybees. We don’t know why our hives keep dying. Robed in clean keeper’s mesh, he serves theapiary sweet water  to stave off starvation. Hereveres their humility. If you sit to the westthey’ll let you watch them eat, taste and see,a persevering people,… Read More Hive #12

Michael-Ellen Walden   I’d clench my teeth while strange men paced my floor,attempting to convince them I was dead.I’d sense somebody opening my doorAnd hear the grinding echo in my head.I’d save all of my bravery and renownFor when I’d place my feet on Dad’s bureauAt eye teeth and incisors, I’d look downAnd whisper secrets… Read More A Sonnet for Childhood Fears