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.
Tylyn K. Johnson
let this momentary experience be
for us, to turn ourselves
into a messy painting
on your wall, made of
our skin and flesh and
sweat and laughter
Kersten Christianson
I want to pen a note about spring.
Not the dead alder, rain after rain after
rain despair of it, but the rose
gold sheen of storm having passed,
dissipating at the knife-sharp edge of outer coast
where blue herons and mallards frequent
the estuary’s ebb and flow.
I want the medicine of tender greens
the tangle of blooming branch,
squall of cherry blossoms adrift
under patches of blue-sky canopy
with supple heart and thoughts of you,
I want the spring that snaps winter’s back.
