Hybrid
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Resolution
by Callie S. Blackstone
Callie S. Blackstone writes both poetry and prose. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart and a Best of the Net. Her debut chapbook sing eternal is available through Bottlecap Press. More information is available at calliesblackstone.com.
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Life Without The Brady Bunch
by Francis Fernandes
Francis Fernandes grew up and studied in Montréal, Canada. Since spring 2020, his writing has been featured in numerous literary journals, including Jerry Jazz Musician, Saint Katherine Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Third Wednesday, The Brussels Review. He lives in Frankfurt,
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Three Essays on Ants While I Hover Overhead, Poisoning Them
by Dennis James Sweeney
How Regret Falls Like Rain, Seasonal but Never Promising
The ants waltz in droves to their dying : sweet
syrup at the brittle edge of hunger . I do
not want to kill a being . I do not want
to be death . But the ants are driven mad
by my small war . Their faces glow with
ghoulish hairs I can feel in my teeth . -
I Blew Out the Birthday Candles
Art by Ana Prundaru
by Madison Ellingsworth
I wear a baggy shirt and baggy jeans to Sophie’s housewarming party because that’s what I saw all the attractive Korean and Japanese tourists wearing while working at Gilbert’s Chowder House this week, and now that I’m off the clock I can wear whatever clothes I want, which really means I can look bad in different clothes from the black leggings and black v-neck top I wore working at Gilbert’s, which now stink like scallops.
Everybody at the party is wearing trendy corset tops and Adam Sandler shorts and tennis skirts,
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Two from The Land of Missing Children by Carole Symer
Art by Monica Banks
Ars Poetica w/
Oxygen Tanka slow gesture at first I start w/my sad girl face Mama’s wan smile
that boys fall for the coldness of her waves the sheer drop
of my eight-year-old chilly prophecy not knowing better I jump into Sister’s burning lake
grabbing her wrists oxygen tank on my back exit plan in place every single time
it hurt to watch Sister surrender whatever loss of tongue in the shape of a gun
or was it a ballpoint swept from her hand & -
Home Church Gets Weird
art by the author
by Erin Allen
AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY of my husband’s business trip, my son asks why we haven’t
been to church in forever, but Lord, I am not ready to go into it, especially with my partner
halfway around the world, so I tell the kids we’re gonna do church at home. I pull out the
Children’s Bible, read the one about three wise men, only I change it to three wise
people because I want so badly for the book to be inclusive that I’ll change the story to get us there.
