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R. Kumra listens for a father’s breath. Naa Asheley Ashitey shares things she wishes she could confess. AJ Bergmann transforms into a gorge. Anne Barngrover follows a fox through a field. Brittney Corrigan knows what a duplex can do. Justin Courter paints the world red. Darren Demaree pines for Emily. Charles Livesay dreams about water. Meg Lubey won’t make you pay for the movie ticket. Eloise Schultz leaves a little cheese. Rachele Salvini shows us the difference between a bottom dweller and a bottom feeder. Barbara Lawhorn has visions of finding intimacy in a digitized and mechanized future. Ariel Berry is wonderstruck by the dazzling trees. Stephen Bush uses food to grieve. Bruce Crown introduces us to the regulars at The Noble Poble-Sec. Rachel Cascella discovers friendship after loss in NYC. Julia Li gives us a mother who helps her daughter navigate the aftermath of a breakup.
POETRY
R.
KUMRA
“Current Address”
and other poems
“You kneel and put your ear to the ground. You tell me they are talking. I believe you. I want to.As he aged, the closeups became little standalone horror films in and of themselves.”
AJ
BERGMANN
“Princess Cake”
and other poems
“I do not wear my clothes well but leave my clothes well-worn which is a testament to friction and endurance.”
NAA
ASHELEY ASHITEY
“Generational Wealth”
and other poems
“The dominos haven’t fallen into place just yet.”
ANNE
BARNGROVER
“Blood Ark”
and other poems
​
“My body releases / its pathways. I have collected all my life.”
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BRITTNEY
CORRIGAN
“Duplex with Venus Fly Trap"
and other poems
​
“Consider how we think about suffering: / What we turn away from, or when we can’t look.”
JUSTIN
COURTER
“A Review of the Movie of Your Life"
and other poems
​
“As he aged, the closeups became little standalone horror films in and of themselves.”
DARREN
DEMAREE
“Emily as I Stand Cold and Watching the World”
and other poems
​
“I don’t have, / a phantom life”
CHARLES
LIVESAY
“Between Wood and Fire”
​
and other poems
​
“You walked your line between wood and fire.”
MEG
LUBEY
“All About Want”
and other poems
“Watch me watch a stranger grieve as a midnight snack.”
ELOISE
SCHULTZ
“Half a Hole”
and other poems
​
“My therapist says / grief is a hole in the living room floor..”
FICTION
RACHELE
SALVINI
“Bottom Dwellers”
​​
"Garrett grabbed the Catfish Hunter ball and started telling me why he got that weird name, but, like most of his stories, it ended up being about his dad."
BARBARA
LAWHORN
“Poetry of Fact”
​
“She misses her social commodity stock rising, watching it advance, and reading the comments from strangers, who became fans and then rose to friend status. Bob wanted her, but it is not at all in the big way so many people wanted her. They wanted to devour her whole life. They wanted to be her. She wanted to be someone other people wanted to be.”
ARIEL
BERRY
“broken things don't always need fixing”
​
“this fall josie was very aware of it being fall. previous falls had passed nearly unnoticed, but this fall was momentous.”
STEPHEN
BUSH
“Comfort Food”
​
“Boys, boys,” she began, rubbing her hands like she’d seasoned them. “I’m worried about the ghosts, boys”, she said, and for a second for us to collect ourselves left unreferenced our inactivity.”
RACHEL
CASCELLA
​“People People”
​
"“They were listening to Johnny Cash on the jukebox, those hunters, those fat men in camouflage clothes and silly-ass hats and a pinch of Skoal in their gums…”
BRUCE
CROWN
​“Unseen by Us”
​
“The winter deepened. It was colder out. He now seemed to understand what was expected of him: our conversations were terse, he continued to tip generously and kept to himself.”
JULIA
LI
“Persimmons”
​
“On the third day, my mother broaches the subject between smacking her greasy lips as she parses through the kimchi fried rice and steamed bok-choy. You cannot run away forever, she says, her voice layered with judgement. You cannot.”
INTERVIEW
CHECKING IN WITH TYLER BARTON
by Lettie Carrick