By: Bruce Levine Happy ThanksgivingHere’s to turkey and good cheerJoyous days ahead

By: Sally Lee Branches and Breaths Breath, a river,unseen but constant.A tether through marrow,an ember in silence. It drifts dusk to dawn,vein to vein,horizon to horizon—an orbit of soil and pulse. Breath aches and kindles—a hush that shatters nothing.It returns…

By: Farheen Shehzadi It was a Sunday in December 2016— a night cloaked in the deepest shades of winter. The bitter cold seeped through every narrow alley of Mariabad, wrapping each corner in silence and frost. It wasn’t just another…

By: Tim Law Confusion I’m so damned confusedBy this game we call lifeLost on the work frontSo quiet with my wife Budget is blownBe it for wages or a loanI’m not sure what I’m doingA mental blank while on the…

By: Kevin Armor Harris The business with the pressure in my ears, that horrid popping I had in my head that I couldn’t explain, this is what happened. I went back to the hospital, the clinician had the scan shot,…

By: Richard LeDue “Separate Vacations” Back to the blank pagelike it’s some sort of loverwho forgives my silencestoo easily. These words kisseson the back of a neck,undressingthe softest apology. That’s probably whyI always returnbecause I don’t ask eitherabout the other…

By: David Sapp Liebchen LiebchenYou needn’t worryAs we’re civilizedThis isn’t 1935Never mindThe thump ofJackboots outsideYour windowThey’ll pass in timeReturn to yourRomance novelReturn to your homeAnd garden showPerfect graniteAnd stainless steel(Flip that houseFew can afford)Never mindThat brutal icy round up(You’re much…

By: Ethan Goffman Aphorisms for a Lonely Planet Mourning Dove A mourning dove chose to nest on the lantern just above our patio, which seemed too low to be safe. Day after day, the dove sat diligently, nurturing her eggs….

By Taylor Dibbert The next time That writer’s block Comes for him He hopes He remembers That hitting the bars On Tuesday nights Usually helps. ### Taylor Dibbert is a poet in Washington, DC. He’s author of, most recently, “On…

By Christina Chin and Jerome Berglund a failed signal to uncaring gods the forsakensky burial’spallbearers *** delirious—shadow talkswith rotting coconutsleadingthe witness *** stick draws HELP the sand heals before sunrise chasing with sweetened tea *** parrot’s scream—I teach it mother’s…