Goodnight Apostrophe

October 2023 | poetry

(*For the runaway bunnies morphing into boys)

Good night you crooked little grapnel,

hanging on to possession

with the deference of a widow’s walk.

Good night to all the graphemes — back

slashes & sashaying greater thans buckling

brackets upon ballroom blitzes.

Rest easy tired tilde, till you are straightened

into an em dash — or simply

hyphenated between shut & eye.

Sleep well underscores, curly brackets

and ampersands. Asterisks notate inward

implosions as the parenthetical implies.

Brian Bruso

Brian Bruso has been putting words into various forms since just after reading Biddy and the Ducks prior to kindergarten. Those early 70’s were a blur, especially for a six-year-old. Fast forward a few decades and suddenly Brian finally has poetry worthy of submitting for publication. Since embarking on this newfound creature of submissions he has been included in several lit mags — LEVITATE, BirdHouse & Rathalla, so far.

The Nature and Psyche Project

July 2023 | visual art

# journalism is not a crime

 

The Nature and Psyche Project

Emily Candler Davis’ Opus, The Nature and Psyche Project, is a visual storytelling endeavor from Acadia National Park, a little heart-shaped island off of the coast of the United States. The images capture a human story or element within the elements themselves. Those prized moments with Nature when we once again leave our own process and return to the trees, the birds, the sunrise or set, a moment of awe or beauty or perhaps even fear, when we are one, once again in Nature, are the heart and soul of her work. The images in, “Storytelling”, describe a process of homecoming.

Stephen Curtis Wilson

July 2023 | visual art

Benson

Ono Como What Can I Do?

 

Stephen Curtis Wilson

Wilson explores rural communities and urban neighborhoods searching for reminders of humanness, culture, and community. He was a medical and generalist photographer, writer, and communication specialist in the health care and library science fields for 36 years—cut steel in a foundry and drove a truck for a time. He is a graduate of the fine arts program at Illinois Central College, received a BA from the University of Illinois, and is a juried Illinois Artisan for Photography, Illinois State Museum. www.stephencurtiswilson.com.

Scott Urquhart

July 2023 | visual art

Cat on Rockets

Ruins of an Apartment in Kherson

 

Scott Urquhart

Scott Urquhart is a volunteer on the frontlines of Russia’s genocide against the Ukrainian people. He has been in this area of great contention since, working with schools and humanitarian aid across the country.

Lullaby to Bacteria

July 2023 | poetry

May you sleep in slushy apples,

the acid mash of stomachs,

seafloor chimneys smearing

the deep with tartars of smoke.

 

I coo to poisonous beans,

noxious Botox twinkies,

and hum at naughty bonbons

of streptococci. Let your dreams

 

carry hordes through rotten tarns

and maggot guts. The world

needs your silent sawing:

wood to dirt, corpses to sand.

 

Waking, your tiny diamonds

dapple dog tongues and rain.

Your rancid flocks fester kisses

and ferment grapes to wine.

 

Eric Fisher Stone

Eric Fisher Stone is a poet and writing tutor from Fort Worth, Texas. He received his MFA in writing and the environment from Iowa State University. His publications include two full-length collections: The Providence of Grass, from Chatter House Press, and Animal Joy, from WordTech Editions.