Poetry

Communion by Sammy bittman

we’re having communion over meatball pizza,

our fingers slick with grease and our bellies warm with

dough and lazy laughter—we are in no rush

The first human by michelle agaron

The day is wasting away when you call me,

tear-streaked and surrounded by sterility.

You say you went looking for a creation myth and

found the fading pulse of a broken wing instead.

Invitation to Float by Michelle agaron and bean mendoza

You were a lived-in body when I met you, 

swelling and contracting to make room for me, your flighty

passenger

The tragedy of daylight by mary alter

I guess when it’s always nighttime you never really think about the darkness

Silver falls by shannon Rao and Sophia Swettenham [1833]

They would aim and shoot and bleed for honour,

The smoke from their own pistols coiling into the rising dew.

How to feel better about everything by bea mendoza

1. know that you deserve better.

2. stop crying

3. stop crying, really

Betty Jeanne’s Letter by Isabel Daniel and Anna Helldorfer

I drove all the way there but it felt wrong to get out of the car alone. I wish you’d come home. The train is only an hour, but it seems you can’t be bothered. I can’t help but feel like I’ve done something wrong.

Scarlett’s Letter by Isabel Daniel and Anna Helldorfer

The film starts with a little girl and her imaginary friend playing together in a meadow—actually, it’s a lot like the one by your house. The two girls spend all their time in the park daydreaming about their futures, picking flowers and praying their wishes come true. I’m still working out the details of the middle, but it ends with her in another park, only this time she’s grown up.

The ocean’s invitation by julianne holmquist

The warm sand perfectly cradled the arch of Ursula's back and the ground rose up to meet her, Ursula felt utterly sunken.