Ah, summer. The tantalizing smell of incinerated frankfurters, the enchanting tingle of mosquito bites, the gentle BLAP-BLAP-BLAAAAAAAAAPPP of the neighbor’s gas-powered weed whacker.
Set the box fan on “Hi,” help yourself to a popsicle, and settle into the hottest days of the year (and, you know, the history of recorded temperature) with issue 121. Contributors include Catherine Kelley, DS Maolalai, Ken Poyner, Greg Schwartz, and Miles Varana. Cover art by Alejandro.
It’s April, gerbils and ladybugs. The fruit trees are flinging their blooms on the floor like temperamental flower girls, the warm breezes are riffling the ostrich feathers on our fancy-ass hats, and the robins are CHOMPING WORMS IN HALF and EATING THEM RAW, according to Emily Dickinson, noted chronicler of bird and bee activities.
Like the season, this issue passes swiftly but leaves a lingering impression of wonders and delights. You can read it cover-to-cover and still have time for a sun-dappled stroll through the botanical gardens. Or a moonlit skulk through a haunted forest, if you are of the nocturnal persuasion. Poem from Paul Hostovsky; haiku by Albert Schlaht and Harrison Fisher; flash by Jim Suruda; cover art by Vivien Krantz.
This time of year always makes us feel a little bored. Red maple leaves are a distant memory, but crocuses are still a purple dream, and some days it feels as if the birds will never come back. To combat this tired-of-staring-at-old-man-winter’s-dreary-butt feeling, Issue 119 is full of surprises. Grab yourself a bowl of hot soup* and tuck in.
*Recommended soup pairings: “tyrannosaurus morning” by Rob Yates: bone broth (preferably made from dino fossils); “Waterloo” by Nikki Williams: creamy potato (thick as a “ghost-grey / fog”); “Independent Horror Movie: Post-Credit Scenes Explained,” by Jeanine Skowronski: classic tomato, naturally; “Mending” by Elizabeth Porter: split pea, green and gluey; haiku by Edward Cody Huddleston: fragrant miso with delicate nori stars; “Velma” by Micah Cozzens: carrot-ginger, as orange and cozy as a turtleneck sweater.
Cover art by resident genius Sam Snoek-Brown.