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
The sky crumbles inward,
darkness the Braille message in heavy tufts
while he states the obvious:
I think you should come inside.
I kneel among flat shadows
as they knit the ground in bruises,
sift my fingers through the earth,
plucking small weeds from lines
of tender leaves; a droplet
plops on the back of my hand.
You're going to get soaked: he warns in a rumble.
I cringe, wonder how we became complicated;
why a little more rain would matter to cutworms
or the sharp stones I've discovered in broken soil.
The storm begins to batter the plants.
I watch them flinch, each flower
bowing its head to the furious deluge.
Drop after drop;
down, harder now
with no promise of ever stopping.
Then he says: Go on. They'll be fine
even though I'm not so sure.
I remember my suitcase
hidden under the spare tire
and wish I could take my garden.
Kim Keith, Phoenix, Arizona