BUMPER ESTA CAMA DE AGUA \lagal)‘ ()rlizfiucapina Dcsrendcr Ia sébana sin Poseiddn Hacerla pcdazos cmrc mis manos Empufiarla cnmo trOZOS dc mclcocha Arrancar sus raices dc Ias profimdidades dc la ticrra Y quc mi cllcrpo dc mujcr cnvuelm cn algas marinas pundra sus entrafias Scria la vcnganza pcrfccra... Show moreBUMPER ESTA CAMA DE AGUA \lagal)‘ ()rlizfiucapina Dcsrendcr Ia sébana sin Poseiddn Hacerla pcdazos cmrc mis manos Empufiarla cnmo trOZOS dc mclcocha Arrancar sus raices dc Ias profimdidades dc la ticrra Y quc mi cllcrpo dc mujcr cnvuelm cn algas marinas pundra sus entrafias Scria la vcnganza pcrfccra ('0 no. Dios dc [as 0135? 7% Show less
THEY LEAPT FOR US Tina Monje In the mirror we hadn't let our eyes burn long enough or our teats pound hard enough on the Floor as WC re-Wl'ote On Our hips new eating plans the next ican size down what the boys might say how jealous the girls might be how worried our mothers might grow and white... Show moreTHEY LEAPT FOR US Tina Monje In the mirror we hadn't let our eyes burn long enough or our teats pound hard enough on the Floor as WC re-Wl'ote On Our hips new eating plans the next ican size down what the boys might say how jealous the girls might be how worried our mothers might grow and white Hew through the air fairies tucked themselves into our noses and between our teeth that ground together through the night and through the early morning hours we listened keenly next door a loud snore and a baby slept Hat on her back and someone's uncle slouched in a bathroom under the Burnside Bridge and maybe a bunny hopped across a treated lawn we’ll Sta}: up ‘1]! 1/}? sun rise: I/zm we'l/fiz/I asleep and tomorrow will 6t 1/}! day so we stayed up hardly moving anything but jaws fingers clenched toes the glare from the television didn't bother us because norhing borhcred us and because our hearts 'I L \l Show less
ANSWERS ABOUT ANGELS Steven Saari The angels of this world are ugly and share everything they know. They curse their absent master and waste away in ditches dug deep with blessings ofa hacking lung. The sinking metal. cold in mouths. to blow away the aging mind, staring out at diseased trees in... Show moreANSWERS ABOUT ANGELS Steven Saari The angels of this world are ugly and share everything they know. They curse their absent master and waste away in ditches dug deep with blessings ofa hacking lung. The sinking metal. cold in mouths. to blow away the aging mind, staring out at diseased trees in the nodding dusk. The worthless bastards. The motherless whores. They Swallow Words, unprofessed in the sleepless night where souls shift toward the insolent darkness: broken and heavy, wondering what use good wings might have. The angels ofthis world are ugly and share everything they know. Still I say nothing. going where they go. “)9 Show less
AFTER HOWL Patrick “'t'rlt’ who bloated and died in alcohol pancreatic despair obscured by coward academy canonized sold into talk show slavery punch-lines. mocking bongo recitations. and documentarian wet dream‘ who destroyed. starving. naked, ashamed oflove and sex and cum sheets of wrecking... Show moreAFTER HOWL Patrick “'t'rlt’ who bloated and died in alcohol pancreatic despair obscured by coward academy canonized sold into talk show slavery punch-lines. mocking bongo recitations. and documentarian wet dream‘ who destroyed. starving. naked, ashamed oflove and sex and cum sheets of wrecking ball motel rooms in Nebraska their gouged eyes, sagging cocks. and sacrificial tongues all tattered covered dusted hone deep. who fall fashion forward into lipstick traces thundered through back alley hijinks and subtle sexual fantasies of words streaming through coarse television red green blue who drag on and on through plugged-in wired realities and droning rhythms. the angry fix another lonely part ofmiddle-age mimicry who damaged their children with hormones. corn syrup. and nicotine only to cover them with helmets and nightmares and idealism better suited for charaCter assassinations. who chronicled isolation and loneliness through pen and ink and small razor cuts to thighs in the middle of the day in the middle ofa winter day in the middle of teenage hostage negotiations who salted wounds to maintain erections when violence became love and happily ever after was shoved down the stairs and bottle slapped into the backseat ofa rusted monte carlo. ll8 Show less
pushing against my mouth desperately, trying to free herself. Suddenly she goes calm and begins stroking me. I know this is the signal that things are okay, that she cares for me, and I know. I know she does. I turn with Dawn in the water. her eyes wide. and hands holding my face. She Strokes me,... Show morepushing against my mouth desperately, trying to free herself. Suddenly she goes calm and begins stroking me. I know this is the signal that things are okay, that she cares for me, and I know. I know she does. I turn with Dawn in the water. her eyes wide. and hands holding my face. She Strokes me, and I know she is saying release me. But my love for her is strong and I'm not sure I can. 'i ~ 0 Show less
CONTENTS In Minneapolis, Morning: Come Quirk 1 Mary Klecker [iv/ling: A Calamiter Lia Jacobson W/m.’3 Stephen Bona Wind; 0fC/mnge 4 Deborah Endres—Goggins Chum/1 oft/1e Car 5 Katherine Berger Hug/i jackmnn} Beard 3 Lesley Becker [Know Girl: 10 Michelle Devens Study afDonare/[olv David 13 Nick... Show moreCONTENTS In Minneapolis, Morning: Come Quirk 1 Mary Klecker [iv/ling: A Calamiter Lia Jacobson W/m.’3 Stephen Bona Wind; 0fC/mnge 4 Deborah Endres—Goggins Chum/1 oft/1e Car 5 Katherine Berger Hug/i jackmnn} Beard 3 Lesley Becker [Know Girl: 10 Michelle Devens Study afDonare/[olv David 13 Nick Dahlquist Stud)! nfMir/Je/(mgelai Pier/t 14 Nick Dahlquist Dirz De La: Muerm; '5 Jose Alvilar Mile 721/! Girl 15 Anna Romskog Adventure: in Foam 17 Kevin Ehrman—Solberg Dirk é” Peny 19 Tina Monje Cell new)! 20 Britta Erickson S/Mdaw 22 Quinci Bachman A Rexonzztar anemory‘ 23 Terri Cooper Bzzz 24 Sean Evenson Morning 25 Hannah Schmit When I \Vorked in Bergen 26 Colin Irvine Galapagos 28 Magaly OrtizAucapira A River Rum 771rough It 29 Nina Robinson Gone Fix/7ng 30 William Trembley Windxwept Warrior 32 Mary lflecker 77w Lave [wide Me 33 Mark Woodley Diximegmtian in Orange and Blank 35 Nick Dahlquist Real Hixrmy 37 Mackenzie Dykstra 5 Minute: on the Deal/1 ofLou Reed 41 Patrick Werle Show less
like you don't want much to do with me. it hurts me. Arney. thinking that. After all. it's just you and me now; your father is gone and that means we have to be there for ach other." He felt the word "father" flicker across his skin like the tip of a knife. He remembered when he left and yelled at... Show morelike you don't want much to do with me. it hurts me. Arney. thinking that. After all. it's just you and me now; your father is gone and that means we have to be there for ach other." He felt the word "father" flicker across his skin like the tip of a knife. He remembered when he left and yelled at his mother and she cried. “You can’t therapy the retard out ofhim." He said while holding up pieces of paper with numbers on them. “That fucking freak is driving me broke and you keep throwing money at him like a spoiled dog.” “But. Frank. he's our son.” “He's your son. He's just my problem." “Arney? Are you there?" His mother's voice brought him back. “l'm here mom. l'm sorry. my brain just forgot where l was for a minute. That's what Dan says my moods are. they're my brain forgetting where I am and mixing the old all up with the new.” "l'm glad your time with Dan is well spent. That's good to hear Arney. Still. you need to be sure to talk to me about these things. lfyou don't I get worried and l might need to have Dan take you away to the hospital again." “No mom. I'll be good I promise." “l'm glad to hear it sweetie. Be safe and do what Dan tells you." “i will mom." She hung up the phone first. Arnold waited for the click but kept the receiver to his eat so he could listen to the comforting nothingness of the dial tone. He didn't put it back into the cradle until the operator recording kicked in and instructed him to press 0 for assistance. He thought about changing the locks again. but rejected it for being too predictable. So he thought about Lilly instead. She didn't know about Lilly. He had kept her safe all these years. tucked away in the back ofhis mind. He rarely brought her out because he was afraid that ifhe caressed the memory too much it would grow worn and thin like his bed sheets. He sat down on the kitchen floor and rested his head against the cool refrigerator and remembered. lt was before the bad times. before his father left and his mother got worse and never 90 left him alone. That's when he met Lilly. She was a receptionist at the clinic his parents took him to for therapy. He didn’t like the therapist particularly, but when his parents would meet with the psychologist after he was done with Arnold. she would keep him company. She would play games with him and whenever his father's voice would start to rise and words like “freak” and “retard” would seep through the doctors door, she would start making funny voices and silly faces and Arnold forgot about how the other adults made him feel different. After his dad left. his mother decided that he needed more intensive therapy and he never saw Lilly again. He started seeing Doctor Dan, several times a week and his office was sterile and Arnold was afraid of the old lady with grey hair who sat behind the desk in the waiting room. The phone rang again. Arnold's eyes snapped open and the phone seemed even crueler than normal because it had taken him from where he wanted to be. He Stated at it and his nostrils flared; he felt anger mix with fear. His mother and the doctor told him he was bad when he was angry and he shouldn‘t do it, but this time it felt right and he pulled the telephone cord out ofthe wall. He lay on the cool linoleum floor. his skinny arms wrapped around his chapped knees until the doorbell rang. He knew it would. and was not surprised. but still he wu scared. He pulled his legs in tighter and clutched with his fingers until the dirty nails drew blood. It rang two more times before he heard the sound ofa key pushing its way into the lock. He heard the tumbler click as the brass key forced the pins into alignment and asserted its will against the house's defenses. “Oh Amey." He couldn't see her because his eyes were closed. but he felt her steps. She walked towards him slowly and he felt the slight thud that reverberated though his body. settling around his unwillingly erect penis. Again, “Oh Arney." She was above him now and they were both still. “Why do you make me do this? Why do you insist on doing this to your poor mother, who only wants to hold you and love you?" She knelt down and he opened his eyes just wide enough Show less
10 Lord, you have not delivered me from death, my blind instinct remains as the daylight bends. l l The soft murmur of night from the seam of tranquility, yet there is no single hell where I cannot burn. 12 I must fulfill my vows to the world. I have lived too long and my torching is pure. 13 This... Show more10 Lord, you have not delivered me from death, my blind instinct remains as the daylight bends. l l The soft murmur of night from the seam of tranquility, yet there is no single hell where I cannot burn. 12 I must fulfill my vows to the world. I have lived too long and my torching is pure. 13 This is the flame ofyour exhausted servant, your trail of surrender, the legalities of fate. 14 To serve you then as my mother did: the eyes peppered and wild, lost in nomadic thought. 15 I shall return you as my father did: a silverback running from the invisible kill. 16 I will sacrifice this final olfering to you, this bondage of self, to suffer your silence, 17 Now restless and threatened in my final diaspora, in this wounded report to the stars. 18 I will pay my dues to the fading constellations: proclaiming this as a declaration of war, 19 Wandering the courts of the Lord, carrying shame in a shrewdness of broken ape. 7| Show less
As i hit: her car. My bicuspid passing through her gauge. l lake handfuls of her for myself But give myselfin full to her beingr And then. as if struck by inspiration, I open my eyes and see the skyline behind her. Illuminated by so many cords and wires. We draw apart, now tending to the small... Show moreAs i hit: her car. My bicuspid passing through her gauge. l lake handfuls of her for myself But give myselfin full to her beingr And then. as if struck by inspiration, I open my eyes and see the skyline behind her. Illuminated by so many cords and wires. We draw apart, now tending to the small burns 0f awkwardly fumbled ash Forgotten in that ecstatic moment. SIX.- CURSED I'm tmding George Saunders on my sloop. l with I had worn a jacket. So cold for October. I try to push the feeling away And focus on the book Impossible. I state oil" into the park across the Street, Tracing the contours of the gazebo's silhouette With my eyes. Tonight is one of the coldest and lonelicst nights I've had in quite a while. Even though there's a warm body in my bed Awaiting my return. 88 Show less
EVERY ANGEL NEEDS T0 FLY I Jt-vi «lg-wick I remember all he times you were there when no one else cared. I remember the way I sat at the back ofthe room and my blank state was little more than that. Maybe there was a sticker on my forehead that read don't get to close to me. I'll weep. But you... Show moreEVERY ANGEL NEEDS T0 FLY I Jt-vi «lg-wick I remember all he times you were there when no one else cared. I remember the way I sat at the back ofthe room and my blank state was little more than that. Maybe there was a sticker on my forehead that read don't get to close to me. I'll weep. But you didn't seem to care how close you got to anyone and pretty soon you started to sit with me you helped Inc to know I wasn't alone. Most people don't really care. I mean they ask how you're doing but really most people don't want to hear about your life they simply want to offer their “expert” opinion on your situation. But that entire lime you were with me. until something happened a shift took place for reasons I may never know. reasons that aren't really that important. i know I leaned on you too heavily and I am sorry: in truth I am still not quite certain of how well I am put (ogL'lllcr. Soon you grew wings and got wlterever it is you needed to go. I am glad you got away from the mess of me. the uncaring people. i am sure the reasons for why you left could continue on: but whatever the reason is “4 Show less
and in a moment of conspiracyl lift the covers and wonder, when was the last time I slept in clean sheets? If not for the scratching sounds and the slow drip drip drip ofa rental sink I would swear it was my death calling from within the walls the ceilings the television, but death would never... Show moreand in a moment of conspiracyl lift the covers and wonder, when was the last time I slept in clean sheets? If not for the scratching sounds and the slow drip drip drip ofa rental sink I would swear it was my death calling from within the walls the ceilings the television, but death would never obviously announce the arrival of the end, preferring instead to let the invocations fly and the Holiest of Holy do my dirty work. 6| Show less
MILE TALL GIRL Anna Romskog She's a mile tall Not bigger, stretched Long and thin~a kite string Hct fcct stitched down As the us: of her Blows in the wind Just a wisp She's a mile tall Sh: lays across the ground Hct arms barely man: 'lhan smoke in thc wind Blown across thr: lawn Shc catchcs on... Show moreMILE TALL GIRL Anna Romskog She's a mile tall Not bigger, stretched Long and thin~a kite string Hct fcct stitched down As the us: of her Blows in the wind Just a wisp She's a mile tall Sh: lays across the ground Hct arms barely man: 'lhan smoke in thc wind Blown across thr: lawn Shc catchcs on the Stccl blades of grass ’lhat refusc her will Birds pick at her l’ull he! to their nest Weave llcr among twigs Knotting and tangling Sh: is a mil: tall But this is not What she had in mind thn sh: stretched hcrsclf A milc thin l6 Show less
School started two weeks later. Gigi was already in her seat with her notebook, two pencils, an ermr. and her nametag neatly arranged on the desk when the bell rang. The other students filed in the room. laughing and talking about their summer. but Gigi sat quietly in her chair. smiling at Miss... Show moreSchool started two weeks later. Gigi was already in her seat with her notebook, two pencils, an ermr. and her nametag neatly arranged on the desk when the bell rang. The other students filed in the room. laughing and talking about their summer. but Gigi sat quietly in her chair. smiling at Miss Zetah. Katrina plopped down next to Gigi and grabbed her hands. “I pray for you every night when I go to bed,” Katrina said. Gigi stared straight ahead, smile intact. while she tried to pull her hands free from Katrina’s grip. “My mommy says your mommy is in Hell but i still pray for you because l'm a good Christian.” Gigi yanked her hands free from Katrina's grip, but in doing. to the fell out ofher chair. The whole class turned and laughed while she scrambled back in her seat. Gigi told her dad about everything that happened at school — everything except Katrina ~ over cookie dough Blizzards. When they finished their treat. they biked around Sunset. At the tpillway they threw molded bread to the geese and stopped again by the picnic shelter to help a turtle cross the path. All the other kids her age were on two-wheeled bikes. but Gigi still had training wheels. She knew how to ride without them. but the liked the crackling noise the training wheels made when she leaned too far to the side. like fire crackers in a coffee can. They circled the pond again before going back. Closer to home, Gigi spotted what looked like an owl’s nest high in the maple tree in Old Man Bill's yard. She jumped off her bike and starred into the yard. Gigi's dad. seeing his daughter in Old Man Bill's yard. dropped his bike in the middle of the road and ran to her. He grabbed her chin hard and turned her face up to meet his. "What did I tell you?" her dad said. not releasing his grip as Gigi tried to squirm away. Gigi squirmed. not meeting her dad's gaze. and started to whimper until she was released. “Gigi. Look at me." Gigi found a spot on the bike frame and refused to move her gaze. 78 “l don't want you going near Bill's house. okay? lt's iust not a place for kids,” her dad's face was stern. but his eyes were soft when he let go of her chin. He squeezed her shoulder before he picked her bike up and lifted her onto the seat. “Last one home is a mum egg!" Gigi squmled and peddled quickly up the street. her dad running close behind. Her classmates teased Gigi every day. They waited for Miss Zetah to leave the room. and then the boys would laugh and make faces while the girls poked her sides and pulled her pigtails. Gigi hid behind the bookshelves and hummed loudly until Miss Zetah came back in the room: everyone swooped back to their desks. Miss Zetah took Gigi behind her desk during recess. where the other children weren't allowed. and they did puzzles together. Miss Zetah had a warm smile that made Gigi feel safe. Gigi liked Miss Zetah. She always smelled like gingerbread cookies and had curly brown hair that bounced when she walked. like Gigi's hair. When her classmates poked fun of her, Gigi would tell Miss Zetah and the classmates would be put on timeout. She liked knowing she could get them in trouble. She never told her dad about her classmates. though. The fourth week ofschool. Gigi‘s dad wasn't waiting for her at the bus stop. He was supposed to take her to Sunset: it was Thursday and Thursdays they hiked to Sunset to look for owl nests with the binoculars. When she got in the house. she recognized Miss Zetah's coat. a red one with green buttons. on the couch. Gigi pulled her beanhag chair over to the basement door and got out a book. She wasn't allowed to go downstairs ifthe door was closed. She waited by the door, reading. until the sun started to set. They never came out. When the first star appeared. Gigi got her bike out of the garage and after a quick glance back at the house. peddled down the street. She heard moms yelling at kids to wash up for bed while dads stood in their front lawns talking about the Vikings game. Gigi peddled as Fast as she could, her feet flying off the pedals, and the wind rushed past her ears, blowing away the noise ofscreaming kids. Her shirt billowed up behind her. like Show less
