June 2020
In this issue
Contents
Mother
It rained all through May in Fruili Venezia Giulia. One Sunday they ran the marathon wearing raincoats and windcheaters. Sidrah put her one-person moka pot..
Epiphany
I turned seventy-five yesterday. Maxine, this alluring intuit from Mexico, told Sanjay last year, that I would wake up on the morning of my seventy-fifth..
Hiring a Hitman in Chinese
It was on a smoggy Shanghai morning when Wang hired a hitman to kill his wife. Wang’s wife Li Ying was rich, a fuerdai. Her..
Tea for Two
The first time our neighbor, Ms. Plinkett, made me a cup of tea, all the illusions of adulthood and demure culture I was working so..
Fish Prints
I’m inking up a fish, concentrating on each scale. A faint breeze tickles the back of my neck. “Stop sneaking up on me, Emilio,” I..
A Feminine Rage
After Poe I. Shriveled up leaves hang from the topmost branches of skeletal trees. Black smudges against a ghostly winter sky—like sleeping bat babies, or..
Bird of Breath: Four Rubai
سەردەفتەرێ وەصفێن تەیە دیباجەیێ دلیەک قەطرە ژ لوطفا تەیە سیراجەیێ دلذکرێ تە دکت دوڕ و ضیا لەهجەیێ دلطەیرێ نەفەسا های و هوویا لەهجەیێ دل A..
Harmony
Her cooking is the honeycombthat keeps him succulent.He is seated, King Kong, at the head of the table,she is unseen, in the kitchen,sweating in holy..
New Summer Moon
The pill passes fondly between hands, Overhead the sky is filled with the wretched screaming of some thousands of cicadas,The stars gather watching. It is bright..
I always…
i always eat the same foodsrice and beans and a side of something or otheri always go to the same placediners with coffee, greek salads..
My Teeth
In my dreams, my teeth commonly crackand fall out of my mouth. When my gumsgive way, there is a soft crumbling, a gritty feelingas I..
In the Jardín Etno-Botánico
Snaking through mesquiteand saguaro, a long lineof jibber-jabber, pink-necked tourists mufflethe words of the Zapotecguide who shows usa geometry of amaranthand maize we have always..
Riverside
After “Spanish Lady”, Irish traditional White crane walking like a bagOut of the hatch of rosemary.The white crane tugs and fades.Two brothers love the same..
Don’t You Know You Can’t Go Home Again?
Spending nights playing with diceGoing out on moonlight nightsKeeping the festive day in honour of springPlucking the sprouts and fruits of the mango treesEating the..
Love Like a Volcano
My boyfriend wasn’t much of a problem-solver, but he managed to be the person I called when I needed to solve a problem. He dropped..