Emily De Ferrari: Saturday January 16, 2010, revisited
This is not security, this is not madness, this is a concerted effort to rid the land of Palestinians.
Lena Khalaf Tuffaha: Lullaby
We want things smaller than we know.
A vessel strong enough
to lift you into tomorrow,
Debra Perrone, Scott Jasechko: Water wells are at risk of going dry in the US and worldwide
Households already are running out of well water in the Central Valley and southeastern Arizona. Beyond the Southwest, wells have been running dry in states as diverse as Maine, Illinois and Oregon.
Jason Baldinger: Copper Heads
america your wars are endless
but none is longer than the one
you’ve had with yourself
Edgar Gabriel Silex: Theory of Mind
For my daughter . that look in her eighteen-month-old mind the instant in which the world is fashioned beyond simple acts of sticking everything in her mouth and her face … Continue reading
Angele Ellis: Kashishi
For Raff Ellis How many generations have we been peddlers of notions, our ribbons of battle fluttering from kashishi – livelihood out of suitcases – from packs, from the karra … Continue reading
Dan Turello: Craft your own renaissance with tips from Boccaccio’s Decameron
A few years ago, on a crisp winter afternoon, I found a beautiful bound translation of The Decameron at the Black Swan bookstore in Staunton, Virginia….I bought it immediately and took it back to a friend’s cabin where a group of us had gathered for the weekend.
Linda Parsons: Two Poems
Glad as I was to see
the wasp squirm in the web, shields aquiver,
lance of its ass lowered, I was not prepared
for her glittering approach.
Ted Kooser: Mudflaps
Out driving, I like to come up behind trucks
with mudflaps, chalky, slate-colored ones
hanging onto their hard jobs
Amy M. Alvarez, Jameka Harley: How Black poets and writers gave a voice to ‘Affrilachia’
A turning point took place 30 years ago, when Black Appalachian culture experienced a renaissance centered around a single word: “Affrilachia.”
Robert P. Alvarez: Humanizing the People Police Kill
The standard, often unreliable reporting on police killings dehumanizes victims — a fact my own family knows too well.
Molly Fisk: You and I
the whole country snarled into such a hot mess
you wouldn’t recognize democracy if she
removed her skirts and danced on your lap for free,
pretending to like you.
Paul Christensen: What the Rain Says
She would die soon but neither of us knew that. Right now, the precious hours were dissolving in the pale afternoon light, just as the rain began again.
Jo McDougall: This Morning
A woman laughs
and my daughter steps out of the radio.
Grief spreads in my throat like strep.
Janette Schafer: On the day I testify for Homeland Security
Janette agreed to share these details publicly to help allay the stigma, shame, and secrecy inherent with being a sex abuse survivor.
