Needle
by Linh Dinh

A needle plying the bloodstream will protect the body against cuts, dismemberments, decapitations, etc. It should be at least three inches long, of stainless steel, sewing variety.

Whenever a notched knife or an ax breaks surface of the skin, needle will rush

Imago

As soon as we became men
my brother and I wore skirts.
We pinched our skirt-fronts into tents
for our newly-circumcised penises, the incisions
prone to stick painfully to our clothing.

I was partial to my sister’s plaid skirt,
a school uniform she outgrew; my brother

Moths
by Joel M Toledo

The children know better.
They scamper in and out of the darkness,
celebrating the narrow transitions
between sorrow and bliss. Right now,
my sister is climbing the stairs.
She feels a sense of triumph; 
I hear it in her laughter. 
The harsh, yellow

Antecedent*

So, in the looking back, there I shall find the answers hooking hands, playing with the familiarity of lying together.

Which? To each?

Perhaps I’ve been foolish but I take nothing back.

(first published in foam:e)

Diver*

I have been keeping my silence

Brave Woman
by Grace R. Monte de Ramos

I am a mother of sons.
Two joined the army when they were young;
There was not enough money for school,
They had no skills for jobs in foundries
And factories, and it was easy to sign up
And learn how to handle a gun.

I am a mother of sons,