issue twenty threeee

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the 1 line

a slightly overweight middle-aged man
sits across from me in the subway.
he picks a newspaper up off the seat.

to free his right hand for reading, he leans back,
twists left, and stuffs a half-wrapped cheeseburger
deep down into his jeans pocket,

where it will be safe.

a million-man prayer

what do we want?
salvation!
when do we want it?
now!

what do we want?
salvation!
when do we want it?
now!
austinrory hackett
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haiku

one, two, three, four, five
one, two, three, four, five, six, se...
onetwothreefourfive


from "how did it get like this"

the last time i kissed a girl was 7 weeks ago.
she was from denmark.
we were in morocco.
we snuck into a hotel to swim in their pool,
then we went back to our hotel and had a siesta on the rooftop terrace.
i told her that i believe in god and i believe that through the atonement of jesus christ all men can find the power to change themselves into something better than they are.
you know, reach their potential, become more than the sum of their parts.
she told me she doesn't believe in god,
that she thinks when you die there is nothing.
then we made out.

just s. guy
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he surveyed the room, blood dripping from his vampire teeth. his appetite was insatiable. "who's next?" he said.

and all the girls raised their hands.

claire russell

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my entry

REBEL

myro
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miss spelled

i want to come across in my writings as witty
but grammar is tough
and by grammar i mean my spelling is pretty shitty
and that's not a bluff
i want to write clever things so people know i am witty
but words are often misspelled throughout
and when a clever idea is sent like that it's a pity
cause it doesn't show what you're about
i will keep trying to be a writer who is clever
so i can be as great in person as in word
and people would want me texting them forever and ever
cause they'd be laughing, not at spelling but at my words
well at least everything in this sonnet is spelled right
now, if only i could figure out timing of rhyming, that'd be a delight

(and yeah, i rhymed word with words)

megan belcher
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public health: a true story

the bell rang.

you got up to make an announcement.
you looked familiar, but i wasn't paying too much attention.
you located me by the drinking fountain after class.

kid: you're name is andrew, right?
me: no, it's alex.
kid: oh...well, i owe you an apology.
me: for what?
kid: remember those kids that were making all that noise outside your window last night...
me: ...and peed all over my fence? yeah, i remember.
kid: that was me. sorry

you apologized. but that still doesn't make you any less of a jackass.

alex shahan
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grandkids

when i am older
much much older
i want to have kids

real little people!
they call me mom.
and they think that
i know everything

i will dye pancakes green for them on
march 17.

i will put big bows on their heads
and make them regularly wear outfits
that turn them into little
frogs or mice even.

i will enter their scribbles into every coloring
contest and contest myself when
they do not win

i will place them on sports teams and clap loudly
even as they dribble or bounce the wrong way

i will take them to church before
their feet can guide their direction.
they will listen to my political banter
before they can even speak a word.

they will hear me swear sometimes and
speak ill of our damn neighbor.

their artwork will hang on my refrigerator,
their legos in my bed.

i will clean up their
pee and puke
and clumps of dried mud
mixed with dog hair throughout my
newly carpeted house.

and someday they will either
wipe their hands clean
of all of this

or continue the messy cycle
themselves

megan morton
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caps on caps off

i'm not superstitious but i'm something like that. i just don't always believe in coincidences. like how m phone doesn't know the difference between kiss and lips. i text kiss, my phone spells lips. a notion so lovely to me i am convinced there is a higher power directing the phenomenon. probably the word gods. they created the english language knowing the future capabilities of the flip phone keypad and samsung's predictive text.

not for any reason in particular, just because they could.

if this is the case, however, then surely the rhyming of the words boy and toy was intentional as well. the word gods know, even then, that their little rhyme was destined to be a hit on the radio airwaves. perfect lyrics for the girl power songs of our teen pop generation. yes, it was all planned.

the word gods must be women, so romantic while trying to remain aloof at the same time. and i can say this, because i am a woman. so it's not sexist.

paula weaver
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