Writing is an act of resistance
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Fourteen Reasons to Love America the Beautiful
Poetry, Tori Cárdenas, #marchforourlives, #endgunviolence, #massshooting, #guncontrol, #gundeaths, climate crisisBy Tori Cárdenas Worn flags fall and burn / as bumper stickers / beer cans / boardshorts / truck nuts / red visors and head coverings / and hearts purple-swelling with pride / beneath twisted knuckles Paint your storm windows / with razor wire / and the blessed blood of the unborn / seal…
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What Then?
#gundeaths, Poetry, Kathy Lundy Derengowski, #marchforourlives, #endgunviolence, #massshooting, #guncontrolBy Kathy Lundy Derengowski And what if the next crazed school-shooter is the security officer, with a long gun and a long memory and a short temper, who is tired of smart-ass kids who call him “rent-a-cop” and mock his lumbering swagger? What if one too many of them have flipped him off, and…
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That One Time My Best Friend Destroyed the World
By Avra Margariti She goes from gun-shy to trigger-happy in a single breath. That honest sun-smile nestles in my chest while she obliterates the world as we know it. She’s a rare, delicate bird perched on the last tree of Earth watching everything turn to ash. Bell jar, birdcage, formaldehyde— everyone wants to capture…
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Malice in Four Thoughts
By Bruce Robinson They didn’t see it coming (how could they?) And then it rained, rained and we weren’t witness so we can only surmise that the days grew shorter and who’s to say that clocks could demonstrate a direction and there was nothing one could do about it (which is what we did)…
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Pompeii
By Jennifer Hernandez When the water finally breaches the dam, long after empty hollows, long after parched ground, even after all is well, the deluge doesn’t stop, becomes a train, careens through the station, passengers left behind on platforms, watching, like the citizens of Pompeii as ash rains down from the mountain, peaceful exterior…
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Tallent Neal’s Hungry Belly
By Ron L. Dowell You’re on Compton City Hall’s council chambers steps, a fist-sized Black Lives Matter button pinned conspicuously on your t-shirt, your belly distending and nearly blocking out Congresswoman Imelda Herrera and obscenely stretching Elizabeth Eckford’s 1957 photo that’s on your tee. Elizabeth’s lovely brown face is downcast, looking cautiously through dark…
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Farewell and Welcome!
Laura Orem is retiring after almost two years as one of our dedicated volunteer poetry editors. Farewell, Laura! While we’ll miss Laura—and her sense of humor—we’re delighted to welcome our newest poetry editor, Tori Cárdenas. Tori is a queer Tainx/Latinx poet from Northern New Mexico. In 2014, she graduated from the University of New Mexico…
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Manifesto
By John C. Mannone We are desperate for life to be found outside our comfortable homes here on this planet. We send messengers to the outer reaches of our solar system —robots with test tube eyes see 200 atom-heavy molecules on Saturn’s Enceladus geysering from a subsurface ocean, icy plumes feathered with biochemistry—life essential…
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Observation After Watching a National Geographic Documentary
By Joanne Sharp Some monkeys have learned that a rock can break open a nut. Other monkeys are learning that a nut can break open their world. Joanne Sharp, Southern California native, graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Art. Lifelong interests in arts practice, music, and literature led to her to poetry…