Gay Bingo at a Pasadena Animal Shelter Gay Bingo at a Pasadena Animal Shelter
My bingo cards are empty, because I’m not paying attention. I can’t hear the numbers, because something inward is being given substance. Then my mother and father appear in the bin…
Oct 26, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Henri Cole
Holy Grail Holy Grail
My father changed his name to Henry and became King of white people. He pulled my spine from my back to prove he commanded the holy sword. Holy bone. The half-corpse of his firstbo…
Oct 19, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Kien Lam
Roasted Veggies Roasted Veggies
When I peel the russet potatoes, the carrots, the sweet potatoes (and sometimes turnips), it’s an occasion. When I cut the zucchini, asparagus, red peppers, it’s an experience. Wh…
Oct 19, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Kathleen Ossip
Post-Elect Post-Elect
The sun predicted this, with its rays determined through the blinds like blades of why. No one has given me an education for what this means, a destruction of firsts: our first bla…
Sep 28, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Iliana Rocha
The Ghost on the Handle The Ghost on the Handle
The houses here are named La Vague and Chantebrise like places in a childhood daydream, an actual lake filled with literal swans. As a kid, I was most at home in the pages of a boo…
Sep 28, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Kathy Fagan
Pilgrim Bell Pilgrim Bell
My savior has powers and he needs. To be convinced to use them for good. Up until now he has been. A no-call no-show. The menace. Of ecstasy like a hornets nest buzzing. Under ice.
Sep 21, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Kaveh Akbar
A Buddha Sighting A Buddha Sighting
When I was three I saw baby Buddha in an apple tree by the Hudson When we grew up Buddha climbed down from his apple tree And took the New York Central Railroad down the Hudson int…
Sep 7, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Crossing Fingers, Kissing Hands Crossing Fingers, Kissing Hands
In its making, in its quip and rhyme, manicured or not, the hangnail enshrined— crossed, ringed, a rabbit’s paw, solemn fingers, vowed fingers and a hand… the palm knows. The wipe,…
Aug 24, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Marc Vincenz
The Made Thing Considers Itself The Made Thing Considers Itself
Made the night, made the day, made deep the waters, made the waters go away, made the crow and the threshing sound, made the earth and the shovel, made the dove and the olive sprig…
Aug 24, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Dan Beachy-Quick
Untitled Untitled
Her heart is full of bees the doctor said to me, and I heard the low thrum of her ventricles swarming With forceps he opened Her little hive heart to me Is there a good side to thi…
Aug 10, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Tom Paine