Of Hebrews and Haints: A Review of Sheree Renée Thomas’ Nine Bar Blues
byOne of the true glories of a well-executed short story collection is for the whole to greatly exceed the sum of its parts: Nine…
What if We Could
bybelieve in god, I meanreally believe, the way you believe in the personsitting next to you on the busso when he shifts positionsor spreads his…
On the Origin
byI find an old copy of Darwin’sOn the Origin of Speciesamong my father-in-law’sBibles and theology books,and my own laugh startles mein the empty house….
Haunting Work: A Review of Diana Khoi Nguyen’s Ghost Of
byI finished reading Ghost Of when my grandmother first entered into hospice care. I was searching for a particular grammar of grief—one that knows…
The Society
bySister Lucia was on duty today which meant we could only play after we took careof the important affairs(worksheets, times tables, cursive tracing). So…
Capillos Ex Deo
byI am just shy of 30. My graying beard and balding head suggest otherwise. I won’t do a combover. Shave me naked. I’ll strut…
The Softness of Ecology is Conversing with the Chaos of the World
byThe first poem in Kathmandu, “When Rajiv was blown up,” opens: Before her belly would caressand press the bomb in her sari,she gave the…
#1 Hit Song
byIt’s time to write a hit song, and God is not happy.Why the loops? Why the endless repetition? he says,slamming the headphones down on…
Writing a Letter to Momma about my Visit to Progreso, Mexico
by
The obliterated place is equal parts destruction and creation. ...
These Are Our Headwaters: A Review of Michael Garrigan’s Robbing the Pillars
byWe often talk about books being shaped by the times in which they were written, but books are also shaped by the times in…
Two Poems
byFather Joe “Maybe the greatest miracle is memory” – Brian Doyle The holiest momentswere those curse words Father Joe muttered under his breath when some…
Savage Pageant
byIn many ways, a poetry collection is an archive, one that seeks to preserve memories and experiences. Jessica Q. Stark’s debut collection Savage Pageant…
The Me of Happiness: A Review of The High Shelf by Nadia Colburn
byIn her debut collection The High Shelf, Nadia Colburn has gifted us with intimate and elegantly crafted poems. Colburn draws from her experiences of…
Homecoming
byArtist Statement When I think of my own “journey”, or Christian pilgrimage, I think of a longing for home, at once subtle and gentle,…
In Maastricht, Nearing Departure
byIn two days, you will leave.For now: dusk, wine, small cigar.You will have stayed three monthsin Maastricht, a city occasioneda couple thousand years agoby…
Back to the Water: A Review of Bill Carty’s Huge Cloudy
byStart with the water. At the end of A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean writes: “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a…
The Time of Growth
byArtist Statement My work starts with being out in Nature. I explore the banks of the Mississippi River and marvel at both her size…
Two Poems
byFence And the fence needsbuilt, and Iof course, say yes tothe secret language ofwire, of keep out,of property, and respectthe landowner, then the land,so…
Endless Senseless Endeavor: a Review of Brenda Shaughnessy’s The Octopus Museum
byBrenda Shaughnessy, in her fifth published book, The Octopus Museum, has built a literary edifice concerned with the memorialization of a unique species that…
Shelter in Place
byI am not prepared for shelter in place only apples and lemon and chard also emergency (rare) in my fridge my faulty IP address …