August 2019
In this issue
Contents
Witch of the Night
The Sukshma Series is a first-hand account of an educated woman of post-colonial India reflecting on how the social and political set-up of the country defined the status of an Indian woman.
we’ll always have Terracotta Warriors dusted in Han Purple, never looking behind
“Drinking mercury to the mystery of all that you should ever leave behind…. in time.” “Ava Adore,” Billy Corgan My purple skin projects royal essences..
Love As Told
And as the sets reverse, to bring age to each step, Every sordid moment worse, lost is the night to its solemn shroud And as I were, softly..
One Way Back to Babylon
“Can I go home yet?” Such a small voice for a big statue On a grey stool in the cornera British Museum guard yawnsand turns away..
Fibrillation
“Do not touch this. You will only have troubles and problems.”– Archeologist, Iris Love, to Getty Museum officials on the prospective purchase of the Statue..
Indian Generation
~After Naipaul’s “Tell Me Who to Kill”~a thank you, to those who made the journey, before They built the train tracksfor memory, brakes to stop..
Bad Woman
I feel my mouth go dry in terror whenever I hear a cricket. (Denise Duhamel) I have lived in the front yard all my life.Like..
A Woman named Samantha
Coming up from the West Fourth Street subway, I texted that I was a block away from the Washington Square Diner. Don’t rush, I’m early…
What Might Have Been
I always thought population control was a necessary trait in every nation. By that I simply mean not having kids, not genocide. From a social..
Kyle
The kids have worked months for this weekend. They’ve stayed late after school, drawn complex plans, built up structures, and milled down wood. They’ve measured..
Wait
Randal didn’t know that it wasn’t normal to wait until your father got home from the bar before you could have dinner. It wouldn’t..
Big Dusty
To Russell, always called ‘Dusty’ since the day he was born, his father was a big man; not just big but BIG. He had big..
The Combination Padlock
A man couldn’t remember the combination to a padlock. He didn’t want to break it, so he tried 0000, then 0001. He was prepared to..
Silver Lining
Everyone knows people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, you catch more flies with honey, that love makes the world go round. This..
The Water
They sat across from one another at the cheap station café. Trayfuls of tea, carelessly poured into narrow-waisted teacups, hovered around them. They were each..
A Writer in the Sun
A verb is a nation. That’s what I’d tell you over coffee. I’d also tell you that writing has its own economy. Supply and demand…
Friends of Ferry Point Park
Condolences, the card read and—she flipped it over—nothing else. Tara Contreras opened the door to her apartment and, without meaning to, thought: Better late than..
I Know You Rider
Ryan and Walker stood in the doorway of the railcar as the train chugged through a crossing in Homerville, Georgia. The town, like many along..