Who sweeps up the confetti after the birthday, the wedding, the graduation?  How many birds swallow the small celebratory glitter?  How many whales shudder and bloat, their stomachs stuffed with tangled plastic?  This is a world of too much and then, all at once, not enough. The last northern white rhinoceros. Photos of the victims published in the newspaper.  Each work from this issue is a testament to the power of literature and art to help us find our way through the weeds, or –if nothing else– to let us know that we are not alone in our wandering.

 

Elaine Fletcher Chapman: “My hunger extends to the ocean, wanting to be where I am not.” and “Three Days of Rain”

Annie Diamond: “35 Cranston Street” and “Zelfportret”

Kristin Garth: “Nailbiter” and “Experiment”

Jennifer MacBain-Stephens: “2nd female citizen from sunshine nation faces off with one light sucking demon” and “Pod Declaration”

Meagan Denese Mealor: “No-Tell” and “Easter”

Oakley Merideth: “Within Womb” and “I Forgot Poems”

Molly McConnell: “Fitting”

Sierra Rittue: “What Makes a Mother,” “traces,” and “attention”

Lisa L. Weber: “Aftermath,” “And I’ll Cry Again,” “Never Again?” and “The Questions That Need to Be Asked”

William Wright: “Don’t Call Me Ishmael,” “Envoi,” and “The Painted Radio”