Summer by Robin Coste Lewis
"I peeled / a banana. And cursed God—His arrogance, / His gall—to still expect our devotion / after creating love."
Egg by C.G. Hanzlicek
““Why are you always whistling?” she asks. / “Because I’m happy.” / And it’s true, / Though it stuns me to say it aloud”
In My Next Life Let Me Be a Tomato by Natasha Rao
“I want to be unabashed, audacious, to gobble / space, to blush deeper each day in the sun, knowing / I’ll end up in an eager mouth.”
The Courtesan’s Reply – Tambulasena by Shazea Quraishi
“Water drips down / my back. He grasps the rope / of my hair and climbs.”
The Undertaking by Louise Glück
“Extend yourself— / it is the Nile, the sun is shining, / everywhere you turn is luck.”
Our Beautiful Life When It’s Filled with Shrieks by Christopher Citro
“I love you. I want us both to eat well.”
An Indian Girl’s Guide To Driving by Urvashi Bahuguna
“Nothing makes me forgive people / like learning I have something to teach them.”