Poetry Contributor
Tylyn K. Johnson (he/they) is a part-time writer from Indianapolis, IN. He writes to reflect his heritage of storytelling and love through the framed lenses of Black Queer artistry. Their language appears in just femme and dandy, The Indianapolis Review, Etchings Literary Magazine, and the lickety~split, among other spaces. They are also the creator of Communal Creativity: A Game of Poetry on itch.io. Projects and social media: https://linktr.ee/tykywrites.
Poetry Contributor
Valerie Hunter teaches high school English, and has had poems in publications including Room, Other Voices, Deep Overstock, and Wizards in Space.
Poetry Contributor
Emily Kedar is a prize winning poet from Ontario, Canada. Her work has appeared in Living Hyphen, The Maynard and The Hart House Review. She is currently an MFA candidate at Pacific University.
Poetry Contributor
Ellen Malphrus is author of Untying the Moon (foreword by Pat Conroy). Publications include Chariton, Atlanta Review, Weber: Contemporary West, Poetry South, James Dickey Review, Blue Mountain Review. She is Writer-in-Residence at USC Beaufort and divides her time between the marshes of the South Carolina Lowcountry and the mountains of western Montana.
Poetry Contributor
Grant Burkhardt is a writer of poetry and short fiction, currently working on collections of both. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Poetry Contributor
Karen E Fraser is a Melbourne-based writer and poet, with degrees in Professional and Creative Writing, and Anthropology. She has been published by Humana Obscura, Bloodmoon Journal, Freeverse Revolution Lit, Querencia, Wee Sparrow Press, and Poetica Christi Press. Karen has held professional roles as a writer, and editor of Verandah Journal. Her poetry embraces the beauty of the natural world; activism, advocacy and social justice; and the absolute necessity of freedom, love, dignity and belonging.
Poetry Contributor
Alaskan Poet, Moon Gazer, Raven Watcher, Northern Trekker, Teacher. Kersten Christianson derives inspiration from wild, wanderings, and road trips. Kersten is the poetry editor of Alaska Women Speak. She has authored Curating the House of Nostalgia (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2020), What Caught Raven’s Eye (Petroglyph Press, 2018), and Something Yet to Be Named (Kelsay Books, 2017). Kersten lives with her daughter in Sitka, Alaska and enjoys road trips, bookstores, and smooth ink pens.
Karen E Fraser
delicate petals creak open
slower than snowflakes falling
in an airless, lavender sky.
wide-eyed stamens quiver, waiting
patiently to be pleasured by bees.
stems of ear-shaped leaves
silently unfurl a lush fullness
in blinding verdant greens.
the light of life remains fully switched on,
fizzing with moon-neon phosphorescence,
ever emergent, ever consuming, gifting and
receding in waves that spiral through
an inescapable fragrance-
a constant, unnameable
yet deeply known by the gentle heart.
Ed Brickell
The world where I live is in slow secret.
The old bird feeder, forever hanging,
Lies on the ground. Its branch is gone.
The fallen leaves from the nearby oak tree
Creep by inches to the back fence.
The sun sneaks near the horizon all day.
A new boy seems to have arrived by himself
In a house sold in haste a few doors down.
He never wears a shirt, runs instead of walks.
The other children have agreed to his rule,
Cheerfully doing the most dangerous things.
New screams fill the air.
A lot, leveled at the top of the hill,
The house erased. No memory
Of what it looked like, who lived there.
Dogs I have never seen before snarl and snap.
All these polite strangers – names of confusion,
Lives of utter mystery.
I want to move somewhere,
Be the question mark –
The one whom no one has seen before,
Who changes how their days happen.
Suddenly inhabiting the scoured hill
Where something was they can’t remember.
