Translating an Autopsy, or To the Man Autopsied Into 99 Pages Translating an Autopsy, or To the Man Autopsied Into 99 Pages
Please know that I read them all and could not weep, afraid to compromise the task I was handed: to reconstitute this you in the Spanish tongue. Know that I aimed to honor what the…
Mar 15, 2018 / Books & the Arts / José A. Rodríguez
Where the wall meets the river Where the wall meets the river
the neighbors who begged it built are astonished they can no longer see the river taste it sweeten it for the fevered child Where the wall meets the river the neighbors cease to be…
Feb 22, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Shanna Compton
What Axes Are Good For What Axes Are Good For
is murdering unguarded presidents of countries you were not born in. This is a reminder that I was not born here or at all I stumbled into this limp living like a glue trap & s…
Feb 15, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Brad Trumpfheller
When We Were Shepherds When We Were Shepherds
Well, we weren’t the best. We merely needed fleece. Were the sheep bred? Yes. Fed? Frequently. Yet they grew depressed. Wherever they went, bellwethers, rebels, they preferred els…
Feb 8, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Caki Wilkinson
You’ve Been on Earth So Long Already You’ve Been on Earth So Long Already
All my life all I’ve wanted was to be myself and someone else. Not theirs but them. My shame about this greed made me hesitant with other children. I wanted what they wanted, but a…
Feb 1, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Elizabeth Metzger
America Will Be America Will Be
after Langston Hughes I am now at the age where my father calls me brother when we say goodbye. Take care of yourself, brother, he whispers a half beat before we hang up the phone,…
Feb 1, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Bennett
It’s a Daisy It’s a Daisy
Bats twin the sky drowsy from billowing home to watch Night Court. I, Nikki, as a contemporary woman: is bound to ask who’s spiraling in the faucet. If you keep no-lye relaxers on…
Dec 28, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Nikki Wallschlaeger
Lincoln, Midnight Lincoln, Midnight
Never have I seen such majestic shins. He is pensive, frock coat unbuttoned, larger than once planned, and if he were to stand his head would nearly scrape the ceiling. What if tha…
Dec 14, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Sandra Beasley
A Guide to the Louisa County Free Negro & Slave Records, 1770–1865 A Guide to the Louisa County Free Negro & Slave Records, 1770–1865
The first box is for all the good white men. The ones who freed their slaves on Christmas. It’s always Christmas in the first box. The day Delpha shall go out. The day Viney shall…
Nov 2, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Kiki Petrosino
Oedipus Oedipus
To end this brother, you climbed the moon to a far country, and never came back. By that I mean when the police broke their way into a room, billowing with suspicion, your body wa…
Nov 2, 2017 / Books & the Arts / D.M. Aderibigbe