Poetry Summer 2017 fiction all issues
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Cover Marija Zaric
Kathryn Merwin
For Aaron, Disenchanted
& other poems
William Stevens
Celestial Bodies
& other poems
Kendra Poole
Take-Off, or The Philosophy of Leaving
& other poems
AJ Powell
Mama Atlas
& other poems
Matt Farrell
Waves in the dark
& other poems
Timothy Walsh
Eating a Horsemeat Sandwich at Astana Airport
& other poems
Nancy Rakoczy
Adam
& other poems
Joshua Levy
Venezuela Evening
& other poems
Ryan Lawrence
Vegan Teen Daughter vs. Worthless Dad
& other poems
George Longenecker
Yard Sale
& other poems
Susanna Kittredge
My Heart
& other poems
Morgan Gilson
Dostoevsky
& other poems
Jim Pascual Agustin
The Annihilation of Bees
& other poems
Taylor Bell
Browsing Tinder in an Aldi
& other poems
David Anderson
Continental Rift
& other poems
Charles McGregor
The Boys That Don’t Know
& other poems
Cameron Scott
Ashes to Smashes, Dust to Rust
& other poems
Kenneth Homer
Inferno Redux
& other poems
Alice Ashe
lilith
& other poems
Kimberly Sailor
Marriage's Weekly Schedule
& other poems
Kim Alfred
Soul Eclipse
& other poems
Jim Pascual Agustin
Snail Mail
No one had called it that,
not yet. For us, it meant taking time
like drawing from a well
that stood in the middle of a desert.
We walked in daylight knowing
even if we reached the dust covered
stones, picked up the dry bucket
that lay upside down and checked
the rope, it may already be dark.
Still we gently unwound the creaking
pulley, the echo of its way down
like music from stones
gently stroked in circles
with moist fingers. The sound
of wood touching water
where we could not see.
Then to haul back home
what we have alone,
but always less
and less lonely.
The Annihilation of Bees
Pesticide manufacturers, blamed
for the death of bees worldwide
continued to profit. He had
no shares in them, couldn’t care
less for the next luxury
car purchase of their CEOs.
But he couldn’t help feeling
something loosen inside
the chambers in his chest
when he read the news.
He glanced at a framed photo
on his desk. A small girl’s
fingertips touching the petals
of a daisy. The dark lines
in the cove of her palm.
Fine golden dust released
on a field of wild flowers blurred
out in the background.
In a breath, the past
relived. A day for baking
cookies embedded with chips
of chocolate. A dead bee
on its back by the window
sill, sting intact. Curiosity,
a poke, a little heart
coming to a stop.
The Heartless Giant and the Dwarf the Size of a Heart
She thought things had always been small
and breakable. That people spoke only in shrieks,
fists, stones and sticks of flame thrown
from a distance. Too many times they tried
to set her hair on fire while she slept.
It became a choice between giving up
sleep or looking for caves they hadn’t scorched.
Until he stumbled on her baby toe
when his eyes hadn’t yet adjusted
to the darkness where she lay.
A jewel instead of a toenail, he saw.
He’d heard people talk of her
having no heart, how with her stare
she could turn a person into a piece of coal.
He should have run back to the gaping light
outside, but something inside him ached.
The smell of her unsinged hair, the colour
of her eyes when she’s at rest,
her voice when she’s not angered
or afraid, he longed to find out
for himself. He could never believe
a living thing would be void of a soul.
So he sat in patience until she woke up
without being disturbed.
Imagining Aliens
Eyes drowning in stars, a boy
sent out thought waves,
imagining aliens were out there
sailing the waterless expanse,
waiting for signals that matched
their instruments.
Had he looked inside him
he would've found an alien
probe already making a nest,
but not like those in horror movies.
A homing device, invisible
yet palpable as the bark
of the tree he loved to climb,
had long been caught in the waves
he sent out to the universe.
Time and place, and a bit of luck,
would one day open a portal
between them, turn their worlds
inside out, until they became
aliens to each other, exploring
the warm unknown.
Jim Pascual Agustin
writes and translates in Filipino and English. He moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 1994. His work has appeared in Rhino, World Literature Today and Modern Poetry in Translation among others. His eighth book of poetry, Wings of Smoke, published in 2017 by UK-based independent publisher The Onslaught Press, is available through most online retailers.