Lizzie Derksen
I run around collecting bottles,
folding the chairs up,
and putting the turkey carcass on to boil
in a pot of water and bay leaves. Lucy calls.
Susan can tell her I am not one
to dispense with a bay leaf.
Lizzie Derksen
I take two Ativan and put on an apron.
It’s nine am, I’m home alone,
I am boiling over like a pot of pasta water,
and my date is finally gone.
Lizzie Derksen
Rachel and Susan, gone for all of
two weeks, now back,
claim the city is changed
since they left.
Lizzie Derksen
I crash on my rich friend’s couch in Ritchie,
where the beans are stumbling like
Rachel and I having a fight—I mean
like newborn foals out of the ground.
Thirty-odd years ago
our pre-frontal cortexes lurched into place,
and it turns out there is still everything
to try and understand.
Lizzie Derksen
Something exhausting is in the air.
I’ve started drinking coffee in the afternoon
and I can’t even seem to make myself come.
Madeline Anthes
Hey,
I’m feeling good, and I hope you are too.
I’ll just be blunt. You deserve an explanation.
I need you with me, Maddie. I cannot do this alone.
Here’s what you told me: You have a heart bigger than the state of Montana.
Read MoreAmber Burke
We rise from the earth toward each other, aching with desire. What is allowed? The tentativeness of first touches. Tell me what you want. I take your hand and place it. My young body. Your young body. The dew on us gleaming. Inviting, teasing.
Read MoreJacqueline Parker
Months after my mother’s death, years after cancer began the long, slow mastication of her body, she’s resurrected in my toast. Golden brown and singed, she appears without warning as I’m about bite the border of her crusty skull.
Read MoreMandira Pattnaik
In the time it’d take to call you, the rains start pouring in Dubai. The TV screen turns black then blue then resumes telecast. Somebody says, “Historic event! Not comparable to anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949 – and that was before the UAE was established in 1971.” They cut to scenes of several layers of dark clouds, like the way it was dark under the blanket you and I pulled over our heads to escape Mamma’s beating.
Read MoreAbbie Doll
I confess, you rarely speak with confidence. You reply, I know. I’m terrified of traffic jams, the resulting pileups. But we all know how eloquent you can be and often are. With great eloquence comes great responsibility, you tell me, not spoiling a single syllable, not spilling an ounce of the ruby hibiscus tea you hold in your grasp.
Read More