Poetry

Featured image for ““Oedipus at Colonus” and “Cape Ann””

“Oedipus at Colonus” and “Cape Ann”

Jack D. Harvey

Ce qui me suffit cependant, car mes misères,
le long temps et ma grandeur d’âme
me font trouver que tout est bien.

Tout est bien? Is it? Is all well?
Is it well in this translation?
“Well” instead of “endurance” or “submission,”
“resignation” or some such.

Featured image for “‘A Toddler Points Up and Says “Sky” for the First Time,’ “If Anicka Yi’s Xenojellies Could Talk,” and “I Forget Nightfall and Go Walking Anyway””

‘A Toddler Points Up and Says “Sky” for the First Time,’ “If Anicka Yi’s Xenojellies Could Talk,” and “I Forget Nightfall and Go Walking Anyway”

Kyra Cole

What did it feel like to be the first?
emerged from the depths
to become tree-dweller and see the earth
curving beneath you, just to climb down
just to walk until exhaustion, over and over
until you’ve traveled too far to return

Featured image for ““The Anniversary,” “The Blind Date,” and “A Table for One, Please””

“The Anniversary,” “The Blind Date,” and “A Table for One, Please”

John Peter Beck

Table Three/Two Diners

Chicken Lo Mein
Garlic Chicken (no mushroom)

The Husband

It wasn’t this restaurant,
another Chinese place
in a town hundreds

Featured image for ““Charming White Saltbox,” “IT WAS TARGET (i’m so sorry target),” and “How to write when your brain is broken””

“Charming White Saltbox,” “IT WAS TARGET (i’m so sorry target),” and “How to write when your brain is broken”

Arielle Tschinkel

Can ChatGPT make me a cup of tea?
Can AI give you a quick, gentle kiss goodbye?
Will Claude stay up all night talking
until our weary hearts have thawed?

Does Grok know your favorite house to walk by?

Featured image for ““Elephant in the Room,” “Still Life with Wrapped Catheter,” and “Morituri te salutamus””

“Elephant in the Room,” “Still Life with Wrapped Catheter,” and “Morituri te salutamus”

Vincent Casaregola

Elephants—supposedly lurking,
menacing in a vast, dark corner, heavy
and dangerous, bringing some beastly
karma to punish arrogant humans, right?

That’s not it, not at all—everywhere,
everywhere the elephants, like dancing
Disney creatures almost, but more
restrained, more unperturbed—

Featured image for ““To Marilyn Buried Next Door” and “Your Girl””

“To Marilyn Buried Next Door” and “Your Girl”

Angela Meredith

When I first learned you were there,
that you had been there all along,
I felt that you had been watching me
and I wondered what I was doing when you arrived.

Did you, in your maternal stillness,
know that I dwelt beyond our mutual fence?

Featured image for ““The Main (Drag),” “Bel Air Motel,” and “The Belmont Circle””

“The Main (Drag),” “Bel Air Motel,” and “The Belmont Circle”

Stephen Barile

The ritual was known
As Dragging the Main

(Drag, to pass slowly or tediously),

Or the Main Drag; conducted
On Belmont Avenue,
Friday and Saturday nights.

Featured image for ““Asleep on the Hill Until,” “Not for You,” and “Attention””

“Asleep on the Hill Until,” “Not for You,” and “Attention”

Cricket Lesso

We nap naked
on the side of the hill
after our picnic lunch,
sun-warmed and satisfied.
We wake at the same time,
suddenly, surrounded
by cows, heads bowed,

Featured image for ““My Presence,” “A Necessary Exercise,” and “A Quiet Song””

“My Presence,” “A Necessary Exercise,” and “A Quiet Song”

Ronald Pelias

In my argument against nothingness
I get out of bed, assert myself
by going about my day.
My goal, besides making
myself presentable and reasonable enough
no one questions my choice