Special FeatureJoanna ValenteCyndi Gacosta, poetry, special feature

Cyndi Gacosta: Invisible Birds

Special FeatureJoanna ValenteCyndi Gacosta, poetry, special feature
Cyndi Gacosta: Invisible Birds
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THE HOUSE WHERE WE HAD FAMILY REUNIONS

Under decay and death—promises of growth and rebirth
The bloodroots grow early morning along the scattered trails
Of stone and brick blocks where a house had lived and bred

Its façade is without a mouth, nose and eyes
Its passage is naked under the roofless structure
Up the stairways and down the hallway to the haunted rooms

Where someone had once looked out from those rusted panes
Or lied on their back, looked up to the ceiling of leafy shadows
And listened to the invisible birds—thousands seemed to sing
In the eerie and humble hum of the house now closing for sleep

Editor’s Note: This poem appeared on our old site.

Cyndi Gacosta was born and raised in San Diego, California. She spent only a few years of her early childhood in Sorsogon, Philippines. She studied literature at UC Santa Cruz. Her work has appeared in other literary journals such as The Walrus, Monongahela Review, The Toucan, and Vanilla.

Special FeatureJoanna ValenteJeanette Quick, poetry, special feature

Jeanette Quick: Thunder Will Break the Earth Apart

Jeanette Quick lives in San Francisco. Her work has been published in Ghost City Review, Rat's Ass Review, The Curious Element, The Bright Line, Penumbra, The Tax Lawyer, District Lines, and the American Banker. She has earned residencies from OBRAS Portugal, Elsewhere Studios, Art Farm, and Sundress Academy for the Arts. She holds a Jurisdoctorate from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Berkeley. She regularly contributes theater reviews to DC Metro Theater Arts.

Special FeatureJoanna ValenteJeanette Quick, poetry, special feature
Jeanette Quick: Thunder Will Break the Earth Apart
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Juliet Cook is a grotesque glitter witch medusa hybrid brimming with black, grey, silver, purple, and dark red explosions. She is drawn to poetry, abstract visual art, and other forms of expression. Her poetry has appeared in a peculiar multitude of literary publications. You can find out more at www.JulietCook.weebly.com.

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Juliet Cook: Rebirth the Parts I Hated
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Gary Charles Wilkens: Edit the Sad Parts

Gary Charles Wilkens’ first book, The Red Light Was My Mind, won the 2006 Texas Review Breakthrough Poetry Prize. His manuscript Fayetteville was a Finalist in the 2014 Moon City Review Poetry Contest. His poems have appeared more than 70 journals and anthologies, including The Texas Review, Moon City Review, Passages North, the Adirondack Review, James Dickey Review, Melancholy Hyperbole, and Midwest Quarterly. His fiction has appeared in Drunk Monkeys, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, and Pale Ghosts Magazine. His day job is Associate Professor of English at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Special FeatureJoanna ValenteGary Charles Wilkens, special feature, poetry
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