With autumn upon us, many have been on the streets peacefully rioting against the man who would be king and keeping the intersections clear, while many others have been waxing wonderful, proclaiming our right to say mean stuff about others and hold board seats in our regional Antifa chapters, treading in the anti-fascist footprints of […]
A Fresh Take on Historic Integrity Boone Hall Plantation and partnering architectsare proud to share that the Cotton Gin House built in the 1850s for cotton processing will keep its original brick exteriorto maintain its historic integrity but will be completely renovated inside The remodeled Cotton Gin House featuresa new visitor center, gift shop, event […]
By Leah Mueller for Basel Adra Each morning, he awakensto the same gunfire, the same pain. He sees the enemy’simplacable face: square bodybundled into a gray flak vest,weapon clutched inside an outstretched glove.His home once more reduced to rubble. He moves his possessionsto a different structure,and then to another, eachmore remedial than the last. […]
By Wendy Vidlak The tour guide wears a freshly starched uniform of a popular blue zhongshan. She quickly assembles the group and starts the presentation from outside the building. “The 10th wonder of the ancient world is a 663-foot tower made of windows and a gold-colored metal. At one time, a giant sign with the […]
Upper photograph: “America” Lower photograph: “Bus Stop” M.R. Mandell is a poet based in Los Angeles. You can find her words in SWWIM, The McNeese Review, HAD, Writers Resist, and others. She is the author of two chapbooks, “Don’t Worry About Me” (Bottlecap Press) and “The Last Girl” (Finishing Line Press). She is a 2024 Pushcart nominee. […]
By Candice M. Kelsey I run the country and the world. –Donald Trump Not only able to make guards bendto her will, she also brings Creon slow madnesswith one swoop of her wand. A seductionat the end of Act IV from Charpentier’s opera,triumphant scene from Eurpides’ Medeawhere royal henchmen fall to a woman, powerfuland […]
By Christine Junge A rally the night before the inauguration is “laced with exaggerations and outright falsehoods.”* I come home from a weekend away to find water leaking out the side of our house. Inside, water is pooling beneath the dishwasher. One more thing that’s falling apart. An executive order instructs the government to end […]
By Tara Campbell The Ministry says it’s no joke: todayI broke the law. I was too woke today. They claim I denigrated our great land.Its sacred trust is what I broke today. They feel it would be harmful to allowmy words to reach the common folk today. They say I poked too roughly at our […]
By Sabyasachi Roy they said revolutionwould thunder in cavalry boots—epic, unmissable, majestic. we’ll come instead in well-worn sneakers,laces neon against cracked pavement,soles worn skinny from marchingevery forgotten block. our plans won’t fit in tidy briefs—they’ll be scrawled on café napkins,between kombucha sips and sideways glances,doodles of fists, flowers, flame. we’ll scent the barricades with jasmine,our […]
More Than a Thousand Days Without School For the last time,I heard my school’s ring,the melody that runs us toward growth.For the last time, I sat in its chair,the chair that helps me achieve my goals.For the last time, I travelled by my teacher’s teachingto discover the wonders of the earth and the sky.For the […]
By Ron Burch He started wearing 18th century clothing, donning a coat, waistcoat, and breeches. The breeches, with buttons down the side, went over his silk stockings. His shoes were rounded at the toes with low heels, the tongues fastened with large buckles. He had adopted a long riding duster that cut low past his […]
By Dawn Tasaka Steffler I Wait until buyer’s remorse sets inWait until it hurts the farmersUntil it hurts the veteransUntil the social security checks stop comingUntil they take away birthright citizenshipUntil they take away freedom of speechUntil they take away the vote from womenUntil another pandemic rears its head and hundreds of thousands die again […]
By Alina Zollfrank I’m an app balker. Proof? You can do this on your cell phone,eager salespeople soothe and I, I refuse – Just check in on your screen,the medical clinic suggests and I, I walk right in and demand the eye contact that’s owed – It’s easy to transfer funds this way,pesters my credit union, and I, I stash wadded cash to […]
By Claudia Wair It’s dark early morning when they take you out of your cell at the county jail. They lead you to a waiting bus, full of other prisoners. The detainees are all Black, like you. Everyone here has been charged with the same crime: taking a white man’s job. The people on the […]
By Zoey Knowlton I followed you to your car he saysTo tell you that I think you’re hotbeautiful he corrects A stammer of thanks Inside, I am beaming validated female affirmed trans woman Later, the what if creeps, slinking through the euphoria What if he hurt he grabbed he persisted I tell my story to a room full of womenThey nod, understanding too well Welcome to us to the […]
By Anna Kiggins Game rules: replace nouns with alcoholic beverages in Trump’s infamous January 6th speech à la the classic children’s game. Media will not show the magnitudeof this Kentucky bourbon. Even Iwhen I turned today, I looked, and Isaw thousands of Kentucky bourbonshere. But you don’t see hundreds of thousandsof Kentucky bourbons behind you […]
Artist’s Statement Almost overnight, COVID-19 had changed the way people interact with each other, and with our own bodies. We lived our lives in vulnerability during that historically significant time of disaster. The initial phases of the pandemic are behind us, but the virus remains and continues to be dangerous. The societal trauma this pandemic […]
By Sam Rafferty Sunset was approaching when the birdwatcher kayaked deep into the swamp. She hid behind shrubs, which offered a full view of the cypress trees where several herons would soon arrive to roost for the night. The trees reminded the birdwatcher of the uncomfortable debutante balls of her youth. Their roots spread into […]
By Joani Reese Five decades stunned, gone mute with disbelief.Fixed rules destroyed; religion bares its teeth.Six judges’ force unwanted, fetal crownsthrough pro tempore vaginas, MAGA-owned.Five men conspired to sully settled law,one last false flag claimed Roe too hot to touchclaimed lawful norms were stone, inviolate.Judge Amy lied, fired Roe v. down to ash. New words […]
By Malavika Rajesh Many people agree that pursuing a family hobby is important in the age of disconnectedness. Other families bond over a puzzle that refuses to be solved or a kitchen garden waiting to be sown. Mine worries. We do it together, instinctively, like breathing. We connect over frantic phone calls, contingency plans that […]
