“Wastrel,” “Ice Heart,” “At the Cafe,” and Other Poems

Wastrel Dead leaves are underneath the tarp. The sleeping bag rots along with the tent. The cotton is soiled with blood, sweat, and piss. This is not…


“Autumnal Cemetery,” “Ode to the Suburbs (Brighton),” “All Saints Day,” and Other Poems

Autumnal Cemetery The Chinese say that evil are the trees of the cemetery. This cemetery, my cemetery, is as evil as it is evergreen. In amongst the…


Eddie Mann’s Last Halloween

The colors let Eddie Mann know that it was Halloween. The grocery store, which was oppressively dim regardless of the season or time of day, was an…


“A Place Somewhere,” “Museum Poem,” “Winter Buries Them,” and Other Poems

A Place Somewhere The dream is the same no matter the night. There is a light, weak and blue, over a country house where nothing stirs, not even a…


Fetish

He breathed a heavy sigh that signified that he was done. He looked like a spent force. My husband, Chris Cleary: a man of little stamina. Well, that…


The Last Will and Testament of Philip Alan Dennison

All my life, people have been telling me to shut my mouth. Never once has anybody seriously asked about my opinion or my side of the story. It’s…


“Harbor Town in Plague Years,” “Russian Poets,” “East Liverpool, Ohio,” and “The Dead at Noon”

Harbor Town in Plague Years Scarlet, white, and green, Fluids of every shade, Mix among the crowds Swarming and teeming Towards the docks Where ships…


Halcyon

Maxwell Hearns, the eleven-year-old son of Ed Hearns, sat outside of the funeral home. It was late March and the last bits of winter snow had finally…