Category: Volume 7 2020

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Art, Art Nerd, Artist Spotlight, Volume 7 2020

Adeet Deshmukh, Artist Spotlight No. 34

ARTIST STATEMENT Adeet Deshmukh images capture the interplay between light/shadow and emotion/composition—in the streets of Manhattan and Mumbai, in the faces of family and strangers, and in the fields of Iceland and the Midwest. Works by © Adeet Deshmukh Adeet Deshmukh is a New York City based photo editor, photographer, and designer. He has had shows in Chicago and New York, and his work has … Continue reading Adeet Deshmukh, Artist Spotlight No. 34

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Art, Art Nerd, Artist Spotlight, Volume 7 2020

Van Lanigh, Artist Spotlight No. 33

ARTIST STATEMENT The Project “Chasing Rainbows” is about the perception of the world of feelings. No one fell the exactly one emotion at the time, it’s always the crazy waterfall with undertones of sensations. And this rainbow of feelings Van Lanigh interprets in her works by running away from the real world of colors to the imaginary universe of impressions. Works by © Van Lanigh … Continue reading Van Lanigh, Artist Spotlight No. 33

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 15 – Peter Gregg Slater

A Tale of Two Maps By Peter Gregg Slater Knowing how I love maps, the owner of a bookstore in Washington, D.C. brought out two for me to look over during a 2019 visit. The first, a world map from 1578, displayed the surrealistic continents and islands characteristic of the period’s cartography. Tiny ships bravely sailed its seas, a few ominously heading towards waters marked: … Continue reading Flash No. 15 – Peter Gregg Slater

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Art, Artist Spotlight, Volume 7 2020

June Lin, Artist Spotlight No. 32

ARTIST STATEMENT The submitted pieces are part of a nine-piece collection called ‘Our World,’ where each piece presents a metaphor inspired by the 2020 quarantine. Their surreal imagery may allude to heavy grief, unyielding desperation, social outcasts, or to those who have suddenly realized that they’ve lost their way (to name a few). These narratives are familiar to each of us. We have experienced them … Continue reading June Lin, Artist Spotlight No. 32

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 13 – Peter F. Crowley

Fomorians By Peter F. Crowley   You’re a piss reminder of an everlasting hotel. She spoke in a fiery tone. The man waddled side-to-side and began patting a penguin. He glanced to a chalkboard behind the penguin, where were written the words: We’ve broken glass, crushed marigold eyes, dethroned coughing cathedrals, driven Zambonis over subterranean rinks, planted flowers that scratch out esophagi – and now … Continue reading Flash No. 13 – Peter F. Crowley

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 12 – Gary Singh

Reunited in the Fourth House By Gary Singh   After leaving the BART station, I visit my Berkeley astrologer at her spooky wooden house near Rose and Milvia, where paint-peeled steps take me to a porch milieu of hanging plants, ancient wicker sectionals, and apathetic cats. Soon enough, the door opens, revealing those same clear eyes of a clairvoyant nature I remember from morning Tarot … Continue reading Flash No. 12 – Gary Singh

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Book Review, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Naked: A New Poetry Collection by Abiodun Oyewole – Book Review No. 10

Naked: A New Poetry Collection Book Review by Gessy Alvarez Naked: A New Poetry Collection By Abiodun Oyewole with an introduction by Lyah Beth Leflore 2Leaf Press, November 2020 Distributed by University of Chicago Press 180 pages; $16.99 Abiodun Oyewole’s Naked: A New Poetry Collection is imbibed with wonderfully unadorned free-form poetics that transfigure the natural world with boundless and mystical cadence. Oyewole – poet, … Continue reading Naked: A New Poetry Collection by Abiodun Oyewole – Book Review No. 10

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 11 – Benjamin Davis

Slow Motion Man By Benjamin Davis   His name was Eam. Reality shot him in slow motion. He worked in Spain, Salamanca, a bar called ‘El Submarino,’ the second bar, up the stairs. When he snapped open a beer, it took a minute. When he mixed a drink, it took ten. But, people waited, people watched. I waited. I watched. His eyes found me; eyes … Continue reading Flash No. 11 – Benjamin Davis

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 10 – Soramimi Hanarejima

Toward Non-Volatile Memory By Soramimi Hanarejima   Once again, you take us on “a short detour to see a memory”—meaning we’re going to visit some event in your past. So, I take a nap. To give you some privacy and get some respite from the strain time travel subjects the body to. I recline the time machine’s co-pilot seat (really more of a glorified passenger … Continue reading Flash No. 10 – Soramimi Hanarejima

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 9 – Catherine Martinez Torigian

Drag Racing By Catherine Martinez Torigian   The last time I heard that sound I was a girl of fifteen, give or take a year. But it was only this morning that I realized it what it was, like a flash of heat lightning on a summer’s day, baffling until the thunder came. A man and woman from the new building on the corner walked … Continue reading Flash No. 9 – Catherine Martinez Torigian

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 8 – Ben Umayam

Kapre Down Under By Ben Umayam Aspen trees proliferate primarily through root sprouts. Whole colonies can be traced to one gargantuan underground sprout. The colonies can extend from the Colorado Rockies to the Canadian ones. Aspen trees are like clones. They share identical characteristics from the single root structure. When they die, it’s almost like they don’t, another tree sprouts from the massive underground formation. … Continue reading Flash No. 8 – Ben Umayam

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 7 – David Joseph

Morning Sun By David Joseph I remember the first time I saw “Morning Sun” by Edward Hopper. I was on a school trip from our high school in Cleveland. It was only a two hour drive down to the Columbus Museum of Art and, truth be told, I was more interested in spending the afternoon making out with my boyfriend than staring at art. Museums … Continue reading Flash No. 7 – David Joseph

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 6 – John Nicholson

The Missing Years By John Nicholson The engine idles as a wounded soldier recovers on the ground, holding his abdomen. Another soldier leans against the car. The smoke from his cigarette vanishes into the snowy canopy. The wounded man chokes as he recounts what happened to him. I. A Roadway in the Woods “It was just the two of us. I couldn’t.” The standing soldier … Continue reading Flash No. 6 – John Nicholson

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 5 – Lucía Orellana Damacela

Brief Encounter By Lucía Orellana Damacela It’s dark under the house, the smell of the sea —less than one mile downhill— expands my nostrils like desert flowers. From this underbelly, this rocky refuge, as I pass by, a sudden shimmer calls me in. I am wearing white cotton socks and plastic sandals that screech as I walk. Two small green-yellow lights are suspended in front … Continue reading Flash No. 5 – Lucía Orellana Damacela

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 4 – Elizabeth Kirschner

The End Which Envelopes the End, a Bramble, a Rose By Elizabeth Kirschner Lonely, like a coffee mug on the shelf, I slow roll into the empty spot on the bed where we shed the best skin of our lives. We were a thing of beauty, weren’t we? A thing of beauty, us, this, before that man—not you!—shoved my face into the weeds. I can … Continue reading Flash No. 4 – Elizabeth Kirschner

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 3 – Christine Kendall

A Gift By Christine Kendall Lourdes sat, thirsty, in her son’s old Mercedes sandwiched between delivery vans on East Seventy-Ninth Street. She studied the license plates of passing cars; all local—New York. “I’ll only be a minute, Mama.” That’s what he’d said before taking his tools and disappearing into one of the limestone apartment buildings. Lourdes smoothed her blouse at the neck and watched a … Continue reading Flash No. 3 – Christine Kendall

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 2 – Ana Hein

Conversation By Ana Hein It is dark when they talk. “You don’t have to do th–” “–I know.” “Okay… Maybe some other–” “–It’s alright.” “But–” “–Trust me.” “I do, but–” “–Aren’t you happy?” “I am, b–” “–Then what’s the problem?” “I’m not really su–” “–I think you’re going to like this.” “You–” “–Come on, I know what I’m doing.” “That’s not–” “–It’s not a big … Continue reading Flash No. 2 – Ana Hein

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Flash Fiction, Stories, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Flash No. 1 – Rachel Werner

Brown Girl Blues By Rachel Werner   “Yes. I cut myself.” “And NO, I am not white.” “But YES, my mother is.” These sentences I have said aloud. But the monologue I’ve pieced together for my own ears is: Everybody is a little bit crazy. So that’s WHY I am ‘crazy.’ Being alive is h-a-r-d; ‘though if I was walking around pretending like it wasn’t, … Continue reading Flash No. 1 – Rachel Werner

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 60 – Kora Schultz

about a miscarriage, planned I want all your pieces bar the one you left here – again, I gulp a little death with oat milk, thick. dried parsley, vitamin c, & chamomile tea. Its mom’s grocery list. Its a junk drawer. what I’m trying to say is this is easy. what I’m mean is, I sleep through all the trauma. I dream of mulberries, Pooling. … Continue reading Poetry No. 60 – Kora Schultz

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 59 – Marco Harnam Kaisth

Three Short Poems To Hilda All my sisters died young too, fiddleheads doublebent under dew. Marketwomen collapsed to red bean jelly, my mother a mooncake around.   The Atlantic I admire you for drowning the kids you drown for baring their bloat never merely snagging fat waterlimbs in your multitude plastics and corals.   Body Poem I love only men who move like marsh-birds over … Continue reading Poetry No. 59 – Marco Harnam Kaisth

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 58 – Tiffany Pyette

Nvyohi (Bedrock: the fundamental principle on which something is based.) “There’s beautiful artwork up there.” I’m told. Entering the rotunda in my elk tooth printed top, I glanced at the paintings that stood larger than the walls of my small home. All praising colonization. For the briefest of seconds, I felt my heart harden. Not into the pristine white marble that surrounded me. Or the … Continue reading Poetry No. 58 – Tiffany Pyette

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 57 – Robin Gow

Morning Makeup Routine: Ursula But they dote, and swoon, and fawn on a lady who’s withdrawn.   What do you think I do? No, I wake up like this. I sleep in my makeup. I breathe only through red lips. The eyeshadow is a color stolen from water, my own personal blue. Some women have routines and other women have lives. Some women are dainty … Continue reading Poetry No. 57 – Robin Gow

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 56 – Lucía Orellana-Damacela

Resonances deadpan tone emerges an invasion organs silent no more     ask in decibels in blockages    dislocated rhythms carrier of a surplus measured in heartbeats sound assault to the carotids what you hear is what you get echo reflects and gathers in black and white waves find a way home    a calligraphic moon on a frequency asking for a sequel strings running through neck and body … Continue reading Poetry No. 56 – Lucía Orellana-Damacela

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Blog, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

We see you. We love you.

Dear Cultural Omnivores, We support our fellow Americans who are marching against systemic racism. We are witnessing a revolution, one that needed to happen, one that is 400 years overdue. We mourn for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner, and others. So many names and faces –  lives cut short, stolen from their loved ones. So many whose deaths were never known – … Continue reading We see you. We love you.

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 55 – Haolun Xu

Line Segments, Counting i. The spaces defined & between them. Each calculation divides the other, running the gambit into place. ii. In another world, the pestilence reached us first. They looked like deathwatch beetles. This time, you could see them, & the way they grew, disgusted people. In another world, the organism grew longer, thinner. It fed differently & with more dexterity. This one was … Continue reading Poetry No. 55 – Haolun Xu

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 54 – Brendan Walsh

breakfast i wake up starving and ever since you left i can do whatever i want with my morning so i make the largest breakfast anyone’s ever seen. i empty the fridge and crisp it on the stove in one gelatinous glop: condiments, months-old leftovers, chicken bones, half-cut onions and forgotten carrots, allofit sizzles and amalgamates. with the crack of seven free range, cage free, … Continue reading Poetry No. 54 – Brendan Walsh

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 53 – Joseph Edwin Haeger

Resurrection I’ll never be able to imagine the level of shattered hope my Christian mother experienced when her son died Friday, and then died again on Easter Sunday   Joseph Edwin Haeger is the author of Learn to Swim (University of Hell Press, 2015). His writing has recently appeared or is forthcoming in The Inlander, Drunk Monkeys, and X-R-A-Y Magazine. He occasionally tells people his … Continue reading Poetry No. 53 – Joseph Edwin Haeger

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 52 – Tashiana Seebeck

Sing, Ladies I’ll tell you of a song on Apollo’s nightstand about the gutters of Paris and themes of magnolia vines, emptiness, statistics about tsunamis, churches, zine artists, twelve-year plans, the debutante meetings on Tuesday evenings, where pink is disallowed and cucumbers encouraged, arthritis, green mango skin, Gucci, God, lilypads, Chrysler’s year-end sales event, bonsai trees, and gasoline fog suckling on the Golden Gate Bridge. … Continue reading Poetry No. 52 – Tashiana Seebeck

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 51 – JP Infante

Yasica, Puerto Plata 1. When I lived in the mountains, I thought the same color meant the same taste. Tangerines, oranges and the sun. Citrus. When I saw my great-grandmother peel a tangerine with her bare hands while men used knives for oranges, she became God. I imagined what she could do with the sun.   2. When I returned to the mountains I was … Continue reading Poetry No. 51 – JP Infante

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 50 – Kate Wright

Ode to the Girls in VIP Exceptionally pretty and exceptionally bored, lacquered lips shut tight and straight, body not moving to the DJ’s pounding as you gaze dead-eyed down at us on the floor. I can’t help but wonder how many people you’ve fucked as I stare at you clutching your flute of $1000 champagne. Have you fucked as many people as me? And who … Continue reading Poetry No. 50 – Kate Wright

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Poetry, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Poetry No. 48 – Tony Press

Colma Walk We walked by the graveyard today Father’s Day And saw a group of five, sitting on the grass, On blankets, and wrapped, too, in blankets, this breezy Sunday. Each person sitting within three or four yards of the same tombstone We continued walking Father’s Day The five appeared, though we could not say for certain Appeared to be a family Perhaps a mother … Continue reading Poetry No. 48 – Tony Press

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Announcements, Blog, Cultural Omnivore, Our Community, Reading Series, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Digging Through No. 3

Our third reading event in The Red Room at KGB Bar on March 10, 2020, was an unforgettable soirée. A day before Coronavirus COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, we hosted a sweet lit-loving and respectful crowd in The Red Room at KGB Bar. In an effort to keep everyone safe, we tried our best to avoid hugs and kisses, our bartender wore rubber gloves, glassware … Continue reading Digging Through No. 3

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 52

DAWN CORRIGAN Dawn Corrigan has published poems and prose in a number of journals and anthologies, and her debut novel, an environmental mystery, was published in 2014. She works in the affordable housing industry and lives in Myrtle Grove, Florida. Title: The Mystery of Titian Hair First Line(s): If there’s one thing I knew growing up, it’s that I was working class. Or lower middle … Continue reading Community No. 52

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 51

PETRULA LAUDATO Petrula Laudato’s fiction has appeared in Haunted Waters Press, Panoplyzine, The Magnitizdat Literary, The Ocotillo Review, and Crack The Spine. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Title: The October I Am Sixteen First Line(s): The October I am sixteen I tiptoe out of my mom’s small pink kitchen and meet a smiling, middle-aged man in a park, only a broken swing and some crushed … Continue reading Community No. 51

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 50

RC DEWINTER RC deWinter’s poetry is anthologized in New York City Haiku (NY Times, 2017), Uno: A Poetry Anthology (Verian Thomas, 2002), in print in 2River View, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, Pink Panther Magazine, Down in the Dirt, Scarlet Leaf Review, Genre Urban Arts and in numerous online literary journals. Title: Being a Bishop First Line(s): yesterday having discovered late in the game i am no queen only a … Continue reading Community No. 50

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 49

JAMAL ANTHONIE MICHEL Jamal Anthonie Michel is an English Literature teacher in Durham. His work has appeared in Lunch Ticket, Apogee Journal, and Linden Avenue Literary Journal, to name a few. His future plans include pursuing an MFA in creative writing for film and television. Title: Nino’s First Line(s): “Just picking up,” I say to the woman at the counter, smiling. She’s got flour on her … Continue reading Community No. 49

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 48

KRISTIN GARTH Kristin Garth is a poet from Pensacola and a sonnet stalker.  Her sonnets have stalked the pages of Anti-Heroin Chic, Moonchild Magazine, Occulum, Neologism Poetry, Rise Up Review, Faded Out, Paper and Ink Zine and many other publications.  Her chapbook Pink Plastic House is available through maverickduckpress.com.  Follow her sonnets and socks on Twitter: @lolaandjolie. Title: Sonnets First Line(s): Do you hear it — what … Continue reading Community No. 48

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Announcements, Blog, Cultural Omnivore, Our Community, Reading Series, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Digging Through No. 2

Our second reading event in The Red Room at KGB Bar on February 11, 2020 was an uproarious affair. It was a packed house and the standing room only audience was in very high spirits. The night began with a lyrical series of family poetic portraits by Rachel Horowitz, followed by a chilling and poignant story by Dororthy Barnhouse, and ending our first act was … Continue reading Digging Through No. 2

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 47

LINDAANN LOSCHIAVO Native New Yorker LindaAnn LoSchiavo, who is completing her 2nd documentary film on Texas Guinan, enjoys writing fiction, poems, plays, and essays set in the Big Apple. Title: Spring Blooms in Brooklyn First Line(s): Wind-skinned March, dragon-clawed, maintains its rein With spiteful shifts of bitter blasts like slaps, Pretending winter’s staying to raid joints, Read More Genre: Poetry Publication Date: March 2019 Journal: … Continue reading Community No. 47

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 46

JEANNE ALTHOUSE Flash fiction, creative nonfiction and longer stories by Jeanne Althouse have appeared in numerous literary journals. She was a finalist in the Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Contest. Her story, “Goran Holds his Breath” was nominated by Shenandoah for the Pushcart Prize. A collection of her flash fiction, “Boys in the Bank,” will be published this year by Red Bird Chapbooks. Althouse lives … Continue reading Community No. 46

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 45

RASMA HAIDRI Rasma Haidri grew up in Tennessee and makes her home on the arctic seacoast of Norway. She is the author of As If Anything Can Happen (Kelsay, 2017) and three college textbooks. Her writing has appeared in literary journals including Nimrod, Prairie Schooner, Sycamore Review, and Fourth Genre and has been widely anthologized in North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. She is a current MFA candidate at the University of British … Continue reading Community No. 45

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 44

ANNE CASEY Irish-Australian, Anne Casey is author of where the lost things go (Salmon Poetry 2017, 2nd ed 2018) and out of emptied cups (Salmon Poetry, forthcoming in June 2019). Senior Poetry Editor of Other Terrain and Backstory literary journals (Swinburne University, Melbourne), she has won/shortlisted for poetry awards in Ireland, USA, UK, Canada, and Australia. Poems in— The Irish Times, Entropy, apt, Murmur House, … Continue reading Community No. 44

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Community, Our Community, Volume 7 2020, Writing

Community No. 43

KEVIN R. FARRELL, JR. Kevin R. Farrell, Jr. is an artist, poet, and educator who observes the world from the backseat of a runaway car low on gas. His visions are a last-ditch effort at connecting before time runs out. Title: Is Poetry Not Dead? First Line(s): There’s a bottomless pit where aspirations wreck like ships. Tangled in safety nets, wrapped up in a symbiotic … Continue reading Community No. 43

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