Poetry
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Magus: A Tribute in Poetry and Film to Donald Miller
by Vanessa Skantze
for Donald Miller guitarist extraordinaire
You brought the sea.
You brought the sea.
Where there was an arid space I sought to infect and encompass;
with words and sound and tensile fighting form–
I and I alone, making a world in a realm of affliction.
Of countless bars not reached.
I had no trust that space was waiting for me and that something could hold me, join me,
allow me a place to,
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safe search and doll house fire
"Snake Vine and Flowers" collage by Tiffany Dugan
By Robin Gow
safe search
i took my eel for a walk & that was the end.
all i could see were horror windows
& adds for single men 100ft away.
the internet has a plastic mouth. i put
training wheels on my eyes. tried to watch
my same monster videos & they were
blocked, replaced with video
of everyday disaster like froot loops.
the eel died from lack of water & -
Five Poems by Hendri Yulius Wijaya
photo by Giovanni Apruzzese
Translated from the Bahasa Indonesian by Edward GunawanDaddy Issues
at the video arcade playground
a man with graying hair offers a coin
when one of his chubby paws slips inside your shirt without permission
you do not make a sound on purpose
so Pac-Man doesn’t game-over again
you do not approve, but you also do not wish for the hasty retreat of his hand. -
Five Haikus by Antonio Guzman Gomez
photo by Giovanni Apruzzese
Translated from the Maya Tseltal by Kiran Bhat
You open your eyes
and wake up the sun so that
a new day can start.
Wik’a asit
ya xojobaj talel k’aal,
ya sakub k’inal.
Abres tus ojos
y se levanta el sol,
despierta el d
Every morning
at the back of a mountain
the sun yawns awake.
Ta jujun sab,
ta yach’ te’tikil,
ya sjach’ ye te k’aale. -
Hallucinyx
"As All Can Be" art by Edward Lee
by Dana Curtis
“The literary equivalent of a hallucinogen; or:qualities of a hallucinogen reduced to literary essence”
-Steve Erickson, American StutterI look for the opium den or
the library because I need
the sweet addled sleep of
the damned, the endlessly
levitated and furious, fearless
on the collapsed couch, words
leaking out the corners
of my mouth. It’s the only way
to look at a sunset, -
Bildungsroman
"Ecumenical" painting by Michael Moreth
by Seth Hagen
I was a cabinetmaker commissioned
To construct the King’s sex chair.
I was a maypole flag wet with June dew.
I was half-mouse, half-toad.
Like a dog now paraplegic
I wore a bright coat.
Like a dog now paraplegic
I wheeled on.
A room. A braided rug. Two doors.
One half-open, the other half-closed.
Like a spoonbill splayed
And two owls in a mangled oak.
