I skimmed my eyes over the algae to FlatfordAnd breathed in Constable’s lungs. DirtyClouds and gaps in the treeline rest, obscured by hands1 2(And) 3.Our East Anglian-Indian summer bounced in placeOf water-bound dogs and haywains. Painting inPastel over well-revised frondescence and clay. I thoughtForward from my memorialBench to how I might discolourThis moment in more... Continue Reading →
Her number appeared in his hand. He hesitated, then swiped the phone on the second verse of the ringtone. “Well hi, you!” Her voice unraveled him. He did his best to recover. “Congratulations! You really nailed it yesterday. Quite impressive!” “I hope I wasn’t overbearing.” “No, no, not at all. You were smooth and... Continue Reading →
Under the auspicious gaze of the Minerva statue in their living room, Phyllisand Florian were preparing their trip to the Montréal botanical gardens. Theywere retired botanists.Florian remembered his botanical mission to Taiwan and said:“We could re-design our garden with the waterscapes of the Japanesegardens.”Phyllis continued: “The exotic exhibit of orchids, irises, and amaryllis shouldbe a... Continue Reading →
1921: Nearly a century ago, in Tulsa, the city where I grew up, a Black man allegedly assaulted a White woman in an elevator downtown. In the following days, White rioters reacted by burning and destroying city blocks of black-owned businesses in the Greenwood District on the north side of...
All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns withfire and brimstone, which is the second death. Rev. 21:8I puked my prayerssweated in tangled sheets,Shadrach & Meschach’s sisteralone in my white bedunafraid to burn, unafraidof bones consumed by fireasking only to be freeof the saintswhose cardamom syllablesstained your vampire’steeth, to be free of... Continue Reading →
Before it rains in Langtang, the rain dolls puckertheir cotton lips, the satin-ribbed curtains blowwith the rumbling thunder, the shutters of Sherpa lodge pull their cords and the windows are discovered open.The river of the sky lagoons between two clouds, its many-colored reefssweep around in their downward journeys until, at last, they plough the fragranced soil and become mushroom, hibiscus, strawflower—even Java plums and... Continue Reading →
Sour grapes in the whirl-pool the albumen, fork a gentle cloudover the yolk, one foot on the sheet, this ghost’s getting caught. Down comes the spider! Net the jellyfish, two tendrils come off, no matter, slippery ropes on a fisherman’s deck. My bread’s in need of blessing; salt the theft. More from this Author Read More in Poetry
Not sure how to review this, as it’s been a while since I read a book in this experiential category: a nonfiction book I enjoyed greatly but am not fully sure I “got.” Camp Sites is a work of queer theory, something with which I have little experience. They kind...
In the time of the Pentarchs, toward the end of the first summer, when his mother lay sick of a fever, they arrived severally in apprehension and wonder, he from the west or from Airyaneum Vaejah some say and she from Ur as it is written in the prophets and they came to where now... Continue Reading →
I was unaccompaniedwhen it happened.I was an apple smashedinto the lunch bagof a person who hadno need for a fingerprintfrom the garden.They never should havehappened, I tell her.I never should havehappened. I’m okayliving in that margin,but if you ask me the samequestion four timesI will have to lie to you. More from this Author Read... Continue Reading →
