Prayer Bones by Ian William Douglas
“The nights were fathomless; the wind, the low hills / Dwindling. The unforgiving light was your own.” — Ian William Douglas
When I Kneel, I Don’t Think of a God by Farnaz Fatemi
“You do not linger out loud. / You are not in my mouth.” — Farnaz Fatemi
Glass for Breakfast by Nur Turkmani
“I wake up to check the numbers. / How dare the little wind put me to sleep.” — Nur Turkmani
Portrait of the Only Child as Bad Penny by Caitlin Cowan
“Give me a chance to come back again, weed that looks / like a flower that looks like a weed” — Caitlin Cowan
God, Gods, Powers, Lord, Universe— by Chen Chen
“What about this / sense that everything has become / very slippery, everything is slipping / right out of my fingers & faster / every day?” — Chen Chen
Vespers by Derrick Austin
"Like children who rub their grimy hands over everything, / they only want to touch and be touched by grass." — Derrick Austin
Thirst by Mary Oliver
"Love for the earth / and love for you are having such a long / conversation in my heart." — Mary Oliver
Lord I Thought at Least You’d Be Here by Elizabeth Metzger
"When I lay next to you in life / only you had the life." — Elizabeth Metzger
Solar by Luisa A. Igloria
"I worry I can no longer pretend / enough to get through another / year of pretending