Archive for March 2026

Reyna Nicol Pencil, marker, and nail polish on construction paper; Lápiz, marcador y esmalte en paper de construcción. Author’s Note Expand A shelter counselor asked me to imagine a tree growing from my heart, and I saw this image. New growth on top but no roots yet. Copyright Credit: “Un imagen de mi mamá” by…

Susan Author’s Note Expand A shelter counselor asked me to imagine a tree growing from my heart, and I saw this image. New growth on top but no roots yet. Copyright Credit: “Heart Tree” by Susan from Survival & Beyond: A Survivor Anthology, Issue 1 / Spring 2024 (Safe Passage, 2024). Copyright © 2024 by…

Kimberley Hughes There are some answers I need to know Are you willing to be the man we need? Will you really miss me when I go? Did you truly love me or just the convenient things that I do? Have you ever put me first or only thought of you? Have you bothered to…

Mario Luis Cardozo In-between waters Bound rectangularly, I swim & am free.   Scar on my back —Phantom tumor— Underlines resentment.   Stroke excises venom —One drop or tear— Across my clipped wing.   I am fat: Parallelepiped Swallowing chlorine.   I am tired. I am out, Soaked and drunk. I whisper timidly:    …

Anonymous One My side hurts fingertips to shoulders are velvet opera gloves heat shimmies up leg  (predator’s hands under my skirt). Two  Someone told me to trigger-warn my life for them, Interrupted me and told me I needed to trigger-warn my life for them,  as if hearing of the violation  and my resistance to the…

Anonymous My Baby Girl When I was small and people would ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”       I’d say, “A mommy.” That was my goal ever after – even after I had a rewarding career.      When the time came, I couldn’t conceive. So we adopted. The…

R. Joseph Rodríguez She’s Gone My mother’s gone to be among the women.   Sisters accompany her  in moments like these.   Father’s furies and fists left her black and blue.   What’s she to do quarterless in the Kroger parking lot?   The children cry and plead.  Father’s immune to them.    In fact,…