Issue 71: 20 September 2018

Storm Front

  By Judith Skillman Artist Statement In “Storm Front,” oil and cold wax on canvas,  12” x  12”, the artist used a rag in equal measure to paint and wax. A paint scraper was employed to etch out the trees at the bottom left. Nature provides solace during times of affliction, whether that affliction be […]

Deaths of Canaries

By Katherine D. Perry   We were standing together, our fingers loosely grasping each other’s hands, around the planet. Here, in the good ole U.S. of A., we had been looking elsewhere for pain:  we didn’t notice when we began to choke from our own smoldering: arrogance and first world privilege let us take our […]

The Traitor’s Flag

By Michael Begnal   Fluttering fields of red polyester hang on aluminum poles in dystopic yards cleared from the forest, posts erected next to splotchy swing-sets and cracked plastic pools of mosquito eggs the South never lost • grab the Polaroid, and quick rub the self- developing snapshot: the traitor’s flag pickled in urine, new-gen […]

I Only Smile at Dogs

By Lizz Schumer   Femme is an act of war Living in this body performance art Like daring to walk down the street. (Does my topknot offend you?) Keeping men’s words out of my head (Hey baby, smile for me) To make room for my own. Lipstick and lace body-armored My skin is a weapon […]