Volume 6

November 2022 - February 2023

The body knows the colour of its skin
seen in the mirror.

Kushal Poddar, Body Bad, Body Good

Kushal Poddar

Body Bad, Body Good

 

My broken knuckles have bruised
more times than I have bones to count them.
My bones have broken bones.

Phoebe Rodriguez, Bruise

Phoebe Rodriguez

Bruise

 

A slithering violence coils within me.
If you ask me for even one more thing
I think I shall set myself or the building on fire

TJ Krenz, WHEN MY MANAGER TALKS TO ME AT THE END OF THE DAY

TJ Krenz

WHEN MY MANAGER TALKS TO ME AT THE END OF THE DAY

 

steal the wanting of another
to rehearse what the body might want
iterate and reiterate to cultivate widening lack
re
re
re
read an account of desire

Sarah Guilbault, the body wants

Sarah Guilbault

the body wants

 

my body quakes
with old touch
made new again

Salem Paige, you may notice changes in your perception of the senses

Salem Paige

you may notice changes in your perception of the senses

 

Fatigue is a ghost
Of potential
Of other things you could be doing
Of other ways you could be

Rebecca Hayes Fatigue

Rebecca Hayes

Fatigue

 

today i talked myself down again i'm getting better
at piloting this thing

Liam Burke, brain pome draft 2

Liam Burke

brain pome draft 2

 

fangs glinting mirror, a window they
tried biting the glass

Joe Nasta, dangerous though asleep and unarmed

Joe Nasta

dangerous though asleep and unarmed

 

You, hiding in the hallway with
our cat, having an emergency without me.

Kimberly Wolf, Bipolar as a weather event

Kimberly Wolf

Bipolar as a weather event

 

the repositories memorialize

                         him/her/it/them/us/me i do not remember

            | & kind queers are only popular when they’re dead

TR San, my own private nonexistence

T.R. San

my own private nonexistence

 

kid ghost a
self from a certain angle
trans in poems only

Caleb Nichols, LIFE WILL FORM MY BODY

Caleb Nichols

LIFE WILL FORM MY BODY

 

rough stroke painting of a person clad in red scrubs on a hospital bed surrounded by yellow walls with monitors and instruments above the text 'Kahlil Kasir’

Artworks by Kahlil Kasir

Kahlil Kasir

 

when I say I’m fine
what I mean is I need you
to see me
dying

Claire Taylor, When I Say I’m Fine

Claire Taylor

When I Say I’m Fine

 

when shoved into a spot we were never meant to fill
all we can do is try again over and over

Natalie Sibiski, to be whole

Natalie Sibiski

to be whole

 

You must understand,
that it only works when it comes from you.
Someone I trust.

Alex Shenstone, To Touch Me Is To Love Me

Alex Shenstone

To Touch Me Is To Love Me

 

At the very least,
a believable fake.
Meager components
knotted together
in haste and shame.

Holly Dowell, Ripcord

Holly Dowell

Ripcord

 

coffee cups that
Tilt towards me when I take another job, when I
don’t sleep, when I need to people please.

Leslie Cairns, The Sphinx Withdrawal

Leslie Cairns

The Sphinx Withdrawal

 

Too free women, too fair haired and beautiful...

Irina Tall

Irina Tall

 

and i like my body best when it's
fractured.

Sarah Little, Funhouse

Sarah Little

Funhouse

 

I'm tired of the gap beween the world and me
The space between myself and spring

Thomas Kent West, Past Lives

Thomas Kent West

Past Lives

 

English is in my body.
Is my body. It's stiff like church shoes in the country.
It remembers

Ada MacCartney, What I Know About English

Ada McCartney

What I Know About Engish

 

not eating
(i don't deserve it)

barely thinking
(i can't stand it)

all over a petty gripe: easily solved

Maddy Whitby, Pulling Myself Together

Maddy Whitby

Pulling Myself Together

 

My body is the only true possession I will ever have

The Maenad, A Body, Claimed

The Maenad

A Body, Claimed

 

Date idea:
choose any local stagnant fountain
and I'll take us to the bottom

Jenna Jaco, Pond Bitch

Jenna Jaco

Pond Bitch

 

There is no 'the ill.' It's all of us. clinic and forensic

Joshua Merchant, Found Poem In Search Of A Prayer

Joshua Merchant

Found Poem In Search Of A Prayer

 

He forgets. I have always
been his home

Christy Tending, Pretend Your Foot is a Home

Christy Tending

Pretend Your Foot is a Home

 

I am feminine rage and masculine tenderness

E.M. Lark, somebody was having another gender crisis

E.M. Lark

somebody was having another gender crisis

 

When you say my name,
I unfold another wrapper.

Catie Wiley, Keeping the butter industry alive with lovesickness

Catie Wiley

Keeping the butter industry alive with lovesickness

 

you are a girder. loadbearing.
without you, your sister would fall.

Jack Apollo Hartley, social creatures or on ant-bridges

Jack Apollo Hartley

social creatures or on ant-bridges

 

Trusting you was leaping
into a sky full of nothing and I am
still waiting to land

Rachel Tanner, Urogynecology

Rachel Tanner

Urogynecology

 

the muscle memory remembers the risk
that is the weight of your body.

Ireisha Anindya, having a body in this economy & society & culture is ridiculous

Ireisha Anindya

having a body in this economy & society & culture is ridiculous

 

An artwork that depicts an Afro-indigenous Siren woman, named Xena, holding the number, “41,” in her palms, showing it off like a gift to the viewer. Xena has pearly light blue hair in tight curls tied back in a poofy afro, with an equally poofy bang hanging over her forehead, with two long pearly light blue locs framing her face. Her eyelashes match her hair color. Her eyes are sapphire jewels with cyan lighting. Her big nose, a flattering feature of her face, plump lips, with two elongated fangs sticking out from her upper lip. Her skin with cool blue undertones, speckled with spots that change color with every emotion; depicted however, the spots are a pale translucent white. Her pear shaped squishy frame is adorned with a green crop top and a pink flower indigenous to where she lives, and a orange and red wrap under her hanging belly. The background is a mix of blue, white, and cyan, water waves, to depict she is from a water based location, signed with an owl rabbit glyph, and the artists fancy signature of their name, Sam Wise.

Sam Wise, Hall of Fame

Sam Wise

Hall of Fame

 

Whispers from gentle lovers
Why do you cry when I touch you?
Plague me.

Olly Nze, I Do Not Feel Like a Survivor

Olly Nze

I Do Not Feel Like a Survivor

 

Be sweet. be glass, be should - not want,
you praise-joked to us

Laura Arciniega, Third Ghazal for the Men Who Fired Me When I Was Suicidal

Laura Arciniega

Third Ghazal for the Men Who Fired Me When I Was Suicidal

 

I'll shelter. I'll be still. I'll recover. I'll breathe.
Tendering my flesh, at the foothills. I'll be.

Rebecca Dempsey, Touch

Rebecca Dempsey

Touch

 

Therapy is making me more "normal" says mom

Anandi Gunda, Sinking Ship

Anandi Gunda

Sinking Ship

 

white skin
interrupted constantly by slipping
jam red rising scabs

Keagan Wheat, Medicalized Transition

Keagan Wheat

Medicalized Transition

 

I have learned to navigate
by stars, by the sea, by the brilliant
points of pain in this ravaged body.

LM Cole

L.M. Cole