fall 2015
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The Insidious Susurration
A Conversation
Marie-Andree Auclair
revenge/reincarnation annie ross
the neighbors knew i divined water
Hell is hot
Allison DeLauer
Brains Lost to the Earth Melissa Nelson
The Story of Chitin Giri Zoe Dagneault
Alcohol
Fast-slow Continuum
Peycho Kanev
The Stale Cold Smell of Morning
Angela Rebrec
Girl I
Girl II
Carolyn Supinka
Word on the Street
Henry Rappaport
Why, And for What Purpose
Is There Something
Ace Bogess
In the Cyberspace Icicle Changming Yuan
Can't Stomach Mitchell Grabois
QED A Moth In Rain Christopher Patton
(Ouverture) Garry Thomas Morse
a rose is a rose is a rose manhattan Nikki Reimer
Saturday Night
Charles Springer
A Monday The Devil Valentina Cano
The Day Everyone Realized Ron Riekki
what do you talk about
desire derives pleasure
aren't we missing every thing
gary lundy
A Fire Hydrant on Camino de la Amapola
Good to See You
Eleanor Kedney
Darkening Over Still Water Richard King Perkins II
Fault Vodka / Blame Juice Jamie Sharpe
Yellow Flowers
The World Dream
Ann Filemyr


The Insidious Susurration of Mongrels
Before I refined fear’s fetters
into protective hands
and memory tightened my leash
there was the hell breath
of mongrels dogging me
fangs, nails in my ankles
to the edge of the cliff
—do not soar—
to the borderline
—do not cross—
—stay put, look no farther—
the shouts, the whispers.
Beware, you don’t know
what comes next.
Our warnings—
You’ll get hurt, maimed, shamed.
Stay safe.
What if you fail, what if
and then what?
And we stick to you
since you feed us.
Hesitation is our nectar
and shivers of recoil our lifeblood.
That sense of futility?
Our daily meat.
We barked doubts
at you
till you
tighten your own tethers
because
there is always the chance
you’ll abandon us
to our sooty smoke
and taste a bright sky.