INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Alan Britt
Shutta Crum
Jumoke Verissimo
Las Slomovits
Richard Kurtz
Lyn Lifshin
Duane Locke
Serena Wilcox
Jerry Blanton
Dami Ajayi
Odimegwu Onwumere
Joanie Freeman
Dike Okoro
Amit Parmessur
Paul B. Roth
Divya Rajan
Kim Keith
Fred Wolven
C. Derick Vann
Al Ortolani
Steve Barfield
Jim Davis
Chris Lord
Jennifer Burd
Will Swanson
Isabel Kestner
Lisa Schmidt
Running Cub
Tolu Ogunlesi
--for Mbella Sonne Dipoko
That day news of your death spread in the streets,
They remembered, the ones still living, of
The long beard that frightened them,
And the pair of sandals or slippers
That completed your image. And
For those knowledgeable, who
Read your erotic tales that incited
Retribution and threatened the mass
Distribution of your novels, they
Knew, suddenly, what light had left
Our community.
SONG FOR THE EVER-PRESENT ONE
Each morning you appear in the sky,
The glow of your teeth exalts all
Creatures finding hope in the earth's pleasures.
This is the moon's oration pronounced
By the sun and pledged by the winds,
When the affairs of dawn corners dreamers
And the meditation of the vagrant becomes
One with Bob Marley singing, "the sun
Will shine in my day today. The high yellow moon
Will come out play."
PORT HARCOURT NIGHTS IN JULY/AUGUST
Rain anointed our feet;
Aroma of roasting plantain, fish and corn
Courted our nostrils. We
Dreamt of tomorrow
In each other's arms
And wrestled fears
Each time we kissed and hugged
To say goodnight,
Pretending we controlled cupid's siren,
Only to confess via email
Of how two little birds discovered
From a tree branch
The pains of joy.
I REMEMBER HIM
The black man selling sunglasses
By the bus stop on Wisconsin Avenue
In summer. His white hat, sunglasses,
White suit and white tennis shoes
Completed an image of an angel, but
Time quietly managed his days.
Today I stand by the same bus stop
And all I see and hear are drenched in
A train of thoughts only imagined.
Dike Okoro, Chicago; Port Harcourt, Nigeria, West Africa