“Jump Rope” Halie Brown
A mouth full of cotton.//Venom-soaked fiber.//He slipped through the grass, the rocks and plastic.
“The Gamble” Halie Brown
And on the 8th day,//God said://“Let everything be lost,”
“My Father” Grace Wommack
A rough hand on a soft cheek//Where would I be//Nowhere
“Saigon Syndrome” Gabrielle Vatthanatham
Seemanyeet was a dangerous woman born betwixt and between the fine line of a land neither here//nor there: and anywhere she might run to would always be fought over.
“Poem for Ann” Elizabeth Muscari
Tonight the cotton moon has sucked the light//into its stomach, the excess seeps through//its pores like a holy aura.
“It Could’ve Been Me” Claire Riddell
My skin is an experience//my mom has never had to have.