There are two elements: / The voice and the wilderness of / Ocean — both thoroughly defined / though one, more wholly —
John the Baptist as Whale by Josie Jocelyn Deane
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Magazine
You Are by Catriona Patience
You are unborn. You are minus one day old. You jostle for a place in the future. Half-sleeping, without thinking, you become. You are one. A day. You are.
Gavin’s Revenge by Robert Adams
Gavin hasn’t changed a bit. That much is obvious when he comes barrelling over to me.
A Working-Class State of Mind by Colin Burnett
Ah laid the boax ae painkillers alongside the boattle ae Smirnoff vodka oan the coffee table. It doesnae even matter tae me that ma flat is that cauld it wid gee an Inuit the shivers.
The Boy with the Body of a Man by Jo Somerset
5.30: DAWN The boy with the body of a man lies inert. Lips that habitually crack a smile, now still. Chest barely moving. Long legs bare, thin, immobile. The police officer gestures to the door.
the artist extols days past (with land carved onto the backs of men) by Prem Sylvester
there is a sun behind you as hollow as the sound from / within your claims to the land it sets on kranti weeps not within
Sweden’s So-so Tolerance of Sociolects by Ann Törnkvist
The editor sent me a message back, underlining a quote: “This is illogical.” My eyes narrowed, even though I was used to this subconscious intolerance of sociolect.
Willow by Siobhan Murphy
I never intended to be a tree. Like so much in life, it just sort of happened. I suppose the first sign was the stiffness and pain in my joints, although at the time, I didn’t know what it meant. My knees and elbows tightened, so they were hard to bend and soon it became difficult to move around.
Well-Tempered by Meghan Purvis
I am tremendous fun at dinner parties / I say this as a joke but it’s true, I talk / and hardly pause for breath, a ticking metronome / of story punchline setup story and only rest a moment
Oxygen Tank by Vina Nguyen
It weighs as much as a grown man’s leg. Its shape, a torpedo. Imagine hauling a torpedo behind you on a stick with wheels, and with a swath of heat or hit of pressure, it can explode and destroy everything.