Bloodlines
it’s 1906 / my great grandfather Sam lays tefillin / for the last time then leaves / them on the bedside table, / a loosening; the leather straps /
left to dangle
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ReadThe Granary
This past November, I was a visitor in a house with many presences: a mouse in the ceiling, ladybug colonies in the doorframe, accumulations and whispers in the hollow of the wall. -
Readlike [my] mother, like me
If the bath is a womb, the shower is a river, a rain. Distance between droplets makes a better clean, not deep, but a clearing. -
ReadOld Friends Let Things Go
In December, Karen and her family left the murky skies of Philadelphia behind and touched down at LAX on a breathtakingly warm and sunny day. -
ReadHallway Song
First I wake the body / to unring a bell— / as the proctor rolls up I slam down right on the tit / of the sexy mermaid we sculpted / in the sand pit. -
ReadGlacier Wildness
In our youth, glaciers winged free to the highway. -
ReadThe Countries of Sleep
Are / sleep nets / sparse / dense / or selfish / in their / weaves? -
ReadBody Party City
Endings begin with a rumbling: / clap of thunder at the top / of the finale, creak and release / of the bus as it rises from its bow, / first vibrations of the tornado / siren. -
ReadNo Children
Empty basilica, wood slat / walls, white Jesus expressionless. / Blue eyes and blue eyes and blue / eyes and more inaccuracies / in the courtyard. -
ReadA Legacy of Stuff
There’s a legacy of stuff passed through my family, especially on my father’s side. -
ReadEditor’s Note
For this issue, we want you to look at what and who is near you. Here, we are thinking about the word proximity. Its silences, opportunities, and actualities. -
ReadSelf-portrait as unproductive machine
The hands of the clock strangle my neck. Each hour, a rueful sigh. -
ReadPortal Triptych
say: here here: hear still: hours bud until split stretches: a body / out -
ReadMoses’ Ear
I had thought I was alone. A familiar scent of bleach and black coffee hung suspended in the warm air of my childhood kitchen. -
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Editor’s Note
What are the institutions — family, religion, education, and beyond — that dictate your understanding of the world, and where do you locate the sting of disillusionment?