Issue 88: 13 June 2019

What I Learned When I Visited Adelanto

By Lisa Eve Cheby   the high desert stretches     hours west of airbnbs and selfie backdrops    here Joshua Trees weep their ancient heads                                   droop in sorrow                          warning warning: injustice ahead         Adelanto means progress          the land of unlimited promises promises can be a curse      a trick              like a traffic ticket that makes a […]

Make a Difference

By D.R. James —a villanelle to commencement speakers everywhere   Tonight, fatigue’s grim flower unfurls, but Gandhi, gunned down, had this to say: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Oh? Even when casting before swine my pearls, every action seems absurd, and all the day— and tonight—fatigue’s grim flower unfurls? Even […]

Solstice

By Dotty LeMieux   It’s delivery day at St. Vincent’s Dining Room men unloading trucks with bread, canned goods, day-old everything for the homeless and the not-yet homeless hanging on by the skin of their teeth, the ones who have teeth and the ones who only have the skin Scruffy off-white hair, long brown coat […]

Cyber War Won

By Jim Hanson   Attention Americans! War is now Peace. Connectivity is Security. The First World Cyber War to have the final virus and end all wars is won. As you read this news: You are selected for cyber security as a digitalized node on the Internet and consumer of infinite data clouds. You are […]

I’m at the End of My Rope

By Wilda Morris (or This Vocabulary Is to Die For)   When push comes to shove, I have to admit, we spend a lot of time shooting the breeze, kicking around ideas, pointing out the ones that—in our judgment—bombed, We want to give it a shot, take a stab at impressing everyone. We want folks […]