I wailed a welcome - baring ribs between my teeth. Adam’s. Before I crumpled, converted to sheets left in the cold to dry, dresses hung above steamy showers, creases pushing themselves away with nervous hands. I learned quiet. I learned how swiftly fire burns, not when played with but when held unflinchingly close to your … Continue reading A definition of womanhood
Meyer’s second poetry collection, Tempest, is an absolute joy to read. A departure from the Gothic, horror style of Haunt, Tempest cradles its reader in bittersweet nostalgia and Meyer’s storytelling and surrealism come into their stride. In the preface, Meyer talks about the dichotomy between the beauty of imagery and underlying pain often conveyed in … Continue reading Review of Tempest, Ryan Meyer
The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies shares four stories from varied Chinese American perspectives. Each story, spanning two hundred years, explores and charts the relationship between China and America, how those who have immigrated or have been born in America attempt to find a home in America while struggling to call China home. Davies captures … Continue reading Review of The Fortunes, Peter Ho Davies
Issue II: hermes (the kaleidoscope) Below are words, phrases, paintings and photographs which might help inspire written, artistic and photographic …Issue II: prompts/ideas
Submissions for Issue II are now open over on Free Verse Revolution: a literary magazine.
In the Olympian Pantheon, Hermes is perhaps one of the most multi-faceted gods. He has been linked to guiding those of have died into the underworld, he is the messenger god, he is linked to trickery, mischief and theft, as well as being the god of shepherds and boundaries. And so, he poses a wide array of themes and subjects to explore.
This led to imagining a kaleidoscope. The ever-shifting and changing colours, shapes and patterns. I expect Issue II to be eclectic – celebrating the surreal, the abstract and illusory. I encourage you to reach beyond your comfort zone and use the idea of ‘hermes’ to inspire your work.
As always, interpret the theme as you wish. We accept poetry, prose, photography, creative non-fiction and visual art. Submissions are now open and you can find our guidelines here.
Please respect the guidelines in…
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after Emily Perkovich Between these pages you will find the witnesses to the ink staining the soft side of our palms. Our truth gleaming in mottled gold, rivulets of alloy for every heart we have broken, most often our own. We are bruised - too honest for your own good. Hiding in plain sight; taking … Continue reading The Poet as an Open Book
after Laura Gilpin I am the two-headed calf; the beast with a burden. Scars and scabs I cannot peel or wear as smiles or storylines. I am hideously on show - all this human - put me in a museum and watch my breath fog up the glass; the alarms will balk at my audacity … Continue reading Dripping in formaldehyde
after Traci Brimhall Begin beneath a cold moon, wish upon a star and hope it is not a cloudy night. Begin with a quiet kiss, against glass or the back of your hand, taste yourself: learn you are more, than sugar, than spice, than all things nice. Begin with a tiny bird in winter, squeeze … Continue reading How to write a love poem
This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery. Taking on a text which has been translated again and again for centuries is no mean feat; especially when walking in the footsteps of a scholar like Tolkein. But, Carnabuci’s translation, I believe, successfully bridges the gap between early, Latinised translations of Beowulf and Heaney’s somewhat prosaic … Continue reading Review of Beowulf: A Verse Translation, Andrew Carnabuci
the hard labor of joy cut glass rotting peach promises and pills — everything which is hard to swallow and much harder to believe in. but when the stars are no longer enveloped in mist, it tastes of sleep, of you, of tomorrow and of vast fields stretching from their giant’s slumber; my heart no … Continue reading What hope tastes like:
