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Introduction

For this issue, we invited our writers to send us work that sees, in decay, something new; work that, in content, in form, in spirit, decomposes as a way to recompose.

We asked to see the flies gather, the ants lick the wet bones bare. We asked to see compost heaps as new seeds crack inside, landfills where night dogs strafe like dreams through plastic. We asked for the dead, the ash mixed with glitter. And so, our writers, those lowly midwives and pallbearers, gave us this: What jewelry studs the wounded taxidermy!

Here’s one: “…my sick blood grew inside my body until the pustules were the size of apples.” Another: “Her open beak waits / for a mother; the ants crawl in.” And another: “Desiccated  fluorescent  skinupright  and  locked / positions  Why does everyonelook  like  their  own / unique kindof monster?” Or, most simply: “Babies learning to walk over old bones.”

It would be easy, here, to metaphorize the work of our editorial team to fit the theme as well—something about searching through the muck of submissions to find each beautiful thing you see here. Doing so, though, would be inaccurate: The consideration, the care, and the commitment the team showed to each piece submitted to this theme, accepted and passed by, was far more the work of the jeweler’s loupe than the miner’s sieve—thank you, team, for rubbing every rock, for treating the rough like diamonds too.

And so, Reader, as luck would have it, this graveyard full of flowers unfolds its blooms toward you. Mind the graves, shut the gate, take your trash, and more than anything: Come in, come in, come in.

—Michael Hurley, Web Editor

Poetry

Apollo Chastain
Sweetie Apple

Clara Collins
Vigil for a Bird

Adam Gianforcaro
🙂

Amanda Lin Hayes
All the Animals

kat kluegel
IAmReady And WillingTo PerformTheTasks Outlined on The PlacardLocated in the Seat-Back Pocket InFront OfMe

Natalia Martinez
The Other Things We Swallow

 

Anastasios Mihalopoulos
Letters to the Museum Docent from 100 Years After

Seth Peterson
Many Worlds Hypothesis

Kate Welsh
Janiculum Hill, Rome

Staff

Web Editor
Michael Hurley

Senior Editorial Assistants
Anthony Carpenter, Sam Fisher, Khaleah Webb

Editorial Assistants
Lilli Bresnahan, Meredith Britton, Jenny Butler, Solara Campbell, Grace Cook, Maidely Davila, Sam Fisher, Adam Gorcyca, Ray Kreuger, Liz McKennon, Amir Polk, Bailey Speer, Caroline Tadla, Ben Yager