Visual Arts
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MEM RY AND C GNITI N – Russell Reza-Khaliq Gonzaga
Will my mother remember who I am The next time I see her? Last time I was her brother, this time I’m my father Cognition fades as neurons fail The next time I see her I may be nothing but a stranger Cognition fades as neurons fail Memory tattered, shattered and shade I may be…
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Explain the circumstances in as much detail as necessary. – Eric Darby
I had been considering shaving my moustache when a squadron of nuns knocked my door. None wore habits, but they had that sturdy nun look. The young one said they’d come to surrender my daughter to me. I haven’t had actual sex in seven years, but here was this four-year-old daughter: Germina with scuffed shoes.…
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Through The Night – Doug Johnson
Her wares neatly placed On the uneven sidewalk Drawn into the shadows She offers a free smile No one takes notice No one takes a look At the finely-woven Blue and white blanket Nor the silver spoons, The carefully-organized Tea cups and saucers, Nor the beaded purse Back pressed to the wall Day exchanged for…
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her photo – Julie Southworth
because this time she told her dad to smile, her photo because a camera shielded her from his not now, goddammit face, because a camera made him forget not now, goddammit, her photo when light rained onto film as she pressed the button and commanded cheese, when she ripped apart the drugstore envelope that held…
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Corsets and Heels – Tehmina Khan
stilettos stilts – water birds wading spike heels wedge heels short achilles stutter step stumble stop falling sprain tight bodice laced up breasts squeezed upwards woman as hourglass sifting sand through squished lungs I can’t breathe falling faint squeeze into skinny jeans smaller than size six calf muscles constricted tight tank top underwire plunge D-cup…
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Sweep – Y Lowy
to closely monitor your working liquids and to have found his voice glassy and unbearable and to have left the room to cry in the hallway and to have found someone already there, crying. it’s just that you thought the flood had already come so long ago and now it’s the aftershock, all reels and…
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Baja – Helen Head
“Awake?” Katie calls. A beam of light sweeps over me and I give a thumbs up. Ready. It’s 4:45AM, mildly chilly. There are 5 million stars in the sky, and I think I can see them all. I reach out of my sleeping bag, pull the plug on my sleeping pad and drop to the…
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Billy and Johnny (Just What You Do) – Bill Lautner
Billy and Johnny They were the best of friends They grew up in the hills of Tennessee Every fall when the leaves turned red, some brown They’d play ball together in the fields, in the barn. That’s just what you did after all. Billy and Johnny They were very much the same They both grew…
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A Fire of Snow – Brian Michael Barbeito
Quiet was the forest way, and the snow would sometimes erupt like a summer fire for an unseen wind that had gathered it suddenly and brought it up like magic. Then there would be just Pines and old Oaks, the frozen pond small but present, or a winter bird going here or there. But, mostly…
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Hubris – Jennifer Peloso
Try as I might, I can’t cut Hope out of me. I take scissors and snip off my fingers like a little girl mangling her paper dolls. And I find that it satisfies the tyrant in me. I pluck off my hair, too, One by one, from my head To test the follicles, extracting the…
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