March is many things. It’s officially the bloom of Spring for some, Autumn for others. It’s Women’s History Month, days of madness for college basketball fans, a time to celebrate corndogs and trees, Benito Juarez and books. Beer, pigs, and Sigrblót, peasants and heroes and transgender awareness, and countless other things living, inanimate and conceptual. […]
What if instead of the inauguration, I wrote about birds? The rabble of small brown onesbeneath the feeder — the ones we can nevertell apart? Or the chickadees,sacking away sunflower hearts againsta long, bleak season? Even now, the woodpeckerbeats a concussive staccato, war drumfor the bruise-blue crows mobbingto protect their nests, while the hawk preenshis […]
By Caiti Quatmann This poem contains themes and explicit descriptions of trauma,including sexual violence, misogyny, and systemic oppression.Readers are encouraged to approach with care. When you’re the first girl in third gradethat has to wear a bra (the same yearthat spice girls release their first album),the boys will start calling you “Slutty Spice.” & the […]
By Alyssa Beatty I add another rowan branch to the fire underneath the brazier and test the water with my pinky. Almost hot enough. A quick count of the bundles of herbs on the kitchen counter to make sure I have everything I need. Rose-tinted sunset streams in through my back door, propped open with […]
By Bänoo Zan For Ahoo Daryaei My body—my voice— Time is out of jointin this sea of forced hijabs I wear a hoodie sweater to campusTo force me to wear a hijabthe Sharia militiamen rip it to shreds I show you whose body this is—I roar—Now that my torso is exposed—I get out of my […]
By Ellen D.B. Riggle I needed only search a few minutes to find the aging heavy cardstock piece of paper labeled in block letters across the top, “BIRTH CERTIFICATE.” I scanned a copy of this original document into a PowerPoint slide for a talk I was scheduled to give on so-called “bathroom laws”—legislation restricting who […]
By Joanne Durham Oh America, I desperately wantto praise you, but even this poemhas begun wrong, like you beganwrong. How easily you claimedthe name of two continents,the lands of other peoples. Hereyou are, states untied, no beltof decency holding them together,all the rot of unentitled claimsshredding your fraying fabric. Lying in bed before dawn, I […]
By Annette L. Brown I was slicing tomatoes from the garden, their rich juice nearly overwhelming the grooves in the cutting board, when I heard the story of Lauri Ann Carleton’s murder. I stopped to make sure I heard correctly, my knife hovering mid cut. Yes, Lauri Ann Carleton, 66 years old, died August 18, […]
By Janan Golestané My second-generation,Iranian-Canadianvoicespeaks without an accentin English. It’s been known to recountmy many fortunes as thedaughter of anIranian woman who chose to leave Iran.She, the only one of seven siblings to immigrate.Me, the only one of my maternal family born with basic rights and freedoms. My second-generation,Iranian-Canadianperspectivewas then that I gained immenselyfrom my […]
By Ya-Ting Yu “Iris sounds like a grandma name,” Samuel said, frowning. His large rugby hands sank into his sweatpants when he saw my face. “You’re no fun. It’s just a joke. And, I mean, it’s true.” He stuck his tongue out and shrugged, the Fly Emirates logo stretching across his chest. His nonchalance made […]
By DW McKinney the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, we gather in the church sanctuary and sing the Black national anthem. We mourn in unison. A week after the new president resumes his campaign of white (straight, male) supremacy, of “making America great,” of rolling back civil rights and liberties for […]
By MM Schreier FIFTEEN She’s afraid her skirt’s too short, but gives it a little hip-swish, anyway. People are watching. If she owns it, maybe they won’t give her the side eye. Wishing she wore leggings, she considers tugging the skirt’s hem down, as if the sparse fabric could magically cover more of her legs, […]
By Kelly Fordon I’ve been thinking about Irish wakes—what my aunt’s must have been like—19—killed by her drunk boyfriendwho slammed into a light pole.For years afterward, my grandfatherran into the boy around town.My grandparents believed he would pay—if not in this lifetime, in the next.But I heard it nearly drovemy grandfather mad to see his […]
By Susan Rukeyser Purity stood behind the counter at Wildfyre Drug, ready to assist Billionaires in possession of a valid pharmacy card and a signed Terms of Agreement, swearing that none of their purchases would be shared with members of the Worker class. Occasionally, customers recognized her from her beauty product testimonials, which ran on […]
