TW: SA By Frances Koziar He speaks of his reputation while I think of fates worse than death, his name, when I would gladly give up mine for a good night’s sleep, to see those nightmares shaped like ordinary men slain before their groping hands reach me; he speaks of having a life ruined, not [...]
By Tara Campbell The uterus is tired. The uterus is sorry but it can’t seem to stay in one place anymore, which isn’t surprising considering how often it’s been poked and prodded and pricked by congressmen’s pens. The uterus would like to get in a word of its own, just one, even edgewise just one [...]
By Holly A. Stovall Until the paper that Joelle Cantrell wrote made it to the top of my stack of To Kill a Mockingbird essays to grade for sophomore English at Jackson High, I had been eating clean and feeling good. I was slouching deep into the couch, a pint of Clean Cream sugar-free-non-fat frozen balanced [...]
By Lorna Rose I listen to the sweaty silence, his throbbing presence as he stares at my developing chest. I learn to calculate the tides. Learn his breath smells like mints when he’s offering me up. Men’s gazes have teeth. Pivot and scan for the response he wants at the appropriate time. You’re pretty. Perform [...]
By Alma Ariaz Everyone tells me It wasn’t my fault, That karma will get him, Will leave him to rot. Everyone tells me I should have fought harder, And why did I wear that, I was asking for trouble. Everyone tells me, That ‘no’ isn’t binding, It’s fluid, it’s blurred, I am overreacting. Filthy, contaminated, [...]
By A. Martine Editor’s warning: sexual violence i wake from the dream with gashes in my chest snakes turning warm on my blood half-interred in the wounds while i go maybe it was me surely it was me, surely it was me athena would have torn them from me and slung them at my head [...]
By J.M. Lasley Editor’s warning: assault, self-harm, mental illness He comes at night, when no one is watching. The soles of his white shoes squeak on the shiny white floors, reflecting white lights above, humming and buzzing through night and day. The keys jingle-jangle and the door swings open, screaming. He smells of sweat and [...]
By Alexander P. Garza Editor’s warning: assault, violence against women “Mira a mi tia.” Look at my aunt. “La mataron.” They killed her. She shows me a photo on her phone: a black honduran woman, motionless, face down, half-naked, ass exposed, top torn. The girl tells me her aunt’s just been raped and murdered, left [...]
By Marcella Remund I am 60 years old. In my lifetime, my mother’s lifetime, and all the lifetimes that came before, no woman has been president. Don’t tell me to get over it I have TRAINED blonde footballers for jobs I couldn’t get without a penis, jobs that paid ten times my single-mom salary. After [...]
By Tara Stillions Whitehead ENTER death as sound blackening an already shadowy scene—as a long, hard lament from the HORN of the failed getaway car. Then, as a YOUNG WOMAN. Everything is lost; everyone has lost. At this distance, death is an exquisite execution of convention. A triumph of method acting. Near-perfect cinema. It will [...]
By Candice Kelsey I July. A man in Thousand Oaks confronted by wildlife authorities. The case: Exotic Reptiles illegally stockpiled. Neighbors suspect this guy may not have permits for all 40 venomous snakes. Above 100 degree heat kept in crowded conditions activity level through the roof. More runs to Home Depot 14 hour day. Curator of [...]
By Phyllis Klein “There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts.” – Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things Breaking: Buzz of a bone fractured, burst of a bowl hitting the floor, boom of a heart splitting. Please like me. A dream as it shatters. Please think [...]
By Caroline Taylor It’s okay if you don’t recognize the make or model of the car that hit you. It’s okay if you can’t be sure it was gray or silver, and no one expects you to recall the license plate details. After all, they came out of nowhere. Your car is totaled, and you [...]
By Leslie McGrath The almond wears a thin corduroy vest that cannot protect the nut. The skin of a ripe peach peels like a second degree burn. The oyster clenches even as we break its nacreous wings at the hinge to get at the meat. When the mushroom man appeared with baskets braceleted up to [...]
