I lost consciousness during liftoff. When I came to, you had appeared. You were floating outside the meter-wide porthole of the orbital waste management craft. Ears pointed up, tongue lolling out of a half-opened mouth. Impossible, I thought, because I knew how fast the craft had to be moving to maintain orbit, and there was …
Apollo is stalking again this summer,flaunting his meaty thighs, letting flyhis arrows. Kings summon oracles,ask: Who is the abomination?Whom shall we cast into the wilderness? Heat rolls off our bodies like storms in the desert,but all the pools are cursed. Dive in a woman,come out a monster, leper-lady, bandages unwinding,ringing your little bell. This …
The Latest Metamorphosis, by Rebecca Bratten Weiss Keep Reading »
Where do the dead live? In the dark. This gorgeous marble model of a windowless Roman house is in fact a cinerarium from the collection of the Regency era architect and collector Sir John Soane (1753–1837). Cineraria, or cinerary urns, are so called from Latin cinis, “cold ash.” A cinerarium (the grammatically neuter form …
Temples, Tombs, and Piranesi’s Ghosts, by Louise Hodgson Keep Reading »
When the fire dies the city hits me like the Dow Jones. I write, I talk, I do. The hedge fund managers roll knucklebones on my desk and make me eat their prophecies. When the fire dies the city isn’t mine. I work, I eat. In spray paint the vending machine is named ORACLE. The …
Most of the newly dead don’t know what they want anymore, and that’s a good thing. But some sure as hell do. I’m still sore from the soul that yesterday wrapped itself around one last need like a fist. Most souls appear to me like milkweed wisps and bits of packing twine. My friend at …
Ebbing, water swivels into the groves of mother earth’s spinecollidingcrackingcrashing buoys silently spectatewadingbouncingbobbingsinking i do not feel princess-like wearing this glitterblinded, salty surrender lace collars crocheted from spindles of foamstomach cramping,intestines crunched into submission fingers claw at merciless windsair seeping, escaping Dying,toes caress abrasive sanddisgruntled shells,buried dunes black blood seeks refuge in indigo oceansbuoys pray, …
