Anthony J. Powers

Judith Skillman

"I admit he was a provider for sister yam / & brother spud, snot-nosed children / who went off & had their own children"

Nick Gregorio

"A follow-up to Hellfire Girl’s last text never came. It was a relatively quiet night crime-wise. And there was only so much static and police code one person could listen to in a single evening. So Doom Boy fired up the Doom Mobile and began heading toward home."

Peter Mladinic

"The waxen hands / in the casket looked like hands / that knotted the flowered tie he wore Sundays / he sat / legs crossed in an easy chair."

Patsy Creedy

"Knowing extends / Beyond / The elbow touched / On the bus / The sadness you feel a smell / Reflexive to breathe it in"

Natalia Batiz-Blanco

"It’s so loud. / There are no stop signs to cross the street so you run. / Thank you to the driver in the Mitsubishi who let us cross. / Almost there."

Cerulean Walker

"I didn’t / even cry at books until this year, / let alone a world I don’t really even want to be a part of."

Cheryl Dumesnil

"The ones who/lashed plastic bottles to a grid of bamboo stalks/and christened it Hope."

Lizette Roman-Johnston

"The early evening glow surrounds my silhouette like a halo, and the flash of denim and pink grows smaller and smaller as I leave them in the dust and they watch me use my big, long legs to pump my way into the sunset."

Lance Dornan

"The meat on my plate is rare and bloody. My fork works its way into my thigh."