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ISSUE 15: CONTRIBUTORS
Rimi B. Chatterjee, Nicole Tanquary, Soham Guha, David Heckman, Neelu Singh, Carlos Norcia, Michael Janairo, Sonya Taaffe, Holly Lyn Walrath, Marco Raimondo, Sandi Leibowitz, David Memmott, Anne Carly Abad, Prashanth Gopalan, Sami Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad & Ishita Singh
Cover: Original sculpture “Othello” by Cathleen Klibanoff. Background: Bailey’s Beach, Newport, R.I. by Childe Hassam, 1901.
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America Under Siege: Creating An Alternate History with Dean A Brink
“Flower Arranging at the End of the Japanese Empire” explores what it might have been like to live as a youth during the Japanese Empire if it had lasted into our present, which became its last days.
tetrahedral edifices of a sticky rice realm
this is where the dissidents come to rest, here the holy temple / that lets them all have what’s coming to them, for better or for worse—but i am not dead…
Soothsayer Blues
The rich build towers to the sky, harpoon the clouds and tow them to their vineyards, keep them on short chains so they don’t get it in their cotton minds to wander.
Steel Dust
It hardly seems surprising that djinns and djinnis could have apparated to the ancients of this place, the land of purity and dust, dust that settles over everything and can only be disturbed by the clumsy hands of a foreigner
No Folly of the Beast
“Would you not kill him? If you could?” / Shrike watches the horizon as well. “If I met him,” she says, “in the City, on the street, I would put a knife in his eye.”
The Devil Buys Us Cheap and the Devil Buys in Bulk
That was the horror that ran over Carita at the sight of the money. Not a holy horror of the wrath of God. But a petty and sordid horror of losing her job and her reputation for honesty. A worldly horror. A shameful horror. A pitiful, worthless horror when compared to the value of her immortal soul.
“When power is unchecked, particularly in an atmosphere of dehumanization, the results can be horrific”
The U.S., though, continues to be the most powerful nation on Earth; Power does what Power does, and when that power is unchecked, particularly in an atmosphere of dehumanization, the results can be horrific.
The Domovoi
“What’s best for you is have the babe, take the money, and leave. It’s not right, but what other choice do you have?”
How To Lie About SN 2213-1745
Deny she was ever a star, / or, failing that, / deny she ever went nova. / Deny that she burnt / brighter than galaxies, / brilliant in ultraviolet.
The Great Wall of America
Work was the only imperative on the Wall. Work was life: grinding, slogging, muscle- and soul-whittling life. Not-work was German shepherds, an avalanche of guardia abuse, twobafour shifts.
Joining the Navy
I wonder what kind of growing I will choose—the weed pushing up through New York concrete / unrolled in defiance of dog piss-coated shoes declaring home, or the dandelion seed adrift in eddied time, making one. either way, the same flower is carried thousands of miles.
Stories That Can Change the World, or The Mission Statement
The ruling elites have hacked the world’s democracies, people’s constitutions, and public institutions that could have served the interests of the people. And the only way for us to take back control is to tell stories that birth creative thought and positive action.
On the Seventh Day
When the cold reached your mind, you had already spread a blue map over your dreams. On the map, you made the earth, the sea, and every living thing so that you would be worshiped.
Domesticated
“Frankly, I’m concerned for my daughter’s safety. Monty explained about the teeth and the nails but how docile is he? He’s already grabbed my daughter’s arm.”
The Moth Spectacular
“Look, Aunt Adele” —/ Then opens her own pocket universe / as she carefully parts puckered thumbs / to push another one inside. / “It’s a secret,” she says, laughing, / tinkling sweet as the Little Prince, / while all our hearts sing the bottom notes.