Online Issues
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I Was Seen
art by Thomas Vogt
by Laurie Blauner
I wanted instruction in something different. So I took a course called “The Photography of Confession” along with Tai Chi and clogging classes. The teacher, Bill, showed us Diane Arbus, Irving Penn, Yousuf Karsh, and Cindy Sherman photographs. He told us why they were good. Which made me think about how we were all pinioned in our own times, with their particular concerns such as identity, perception, and human or animal nature. Everyone knew how to click a photograph. It was always an individual’s point of view,
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A Stroll Through Paris
art by loulia Lymperopoulou.
by Lorena Sellin
As I was walking back to my overpriced but charming hotel– how Parisian, right?- the air was thick with a subtle undertone of late summer blossoming’s, mingling with muffled sounds of gastronomes closing for the night; bins rattling, and stray cats prowling. The polluted city air had given way to the softness of this summer night, and amidst it all, there was a hint of something I immediately recognized- “Thousand Kisses from Paris “, the latest perfume everyone was talking about. What a stupid name for a perfume. -
You’ve Reached Your Destination, The Circus is in Town, The Upper Parts
art by Jacelyn Yap
by Kim Chinquee
You’ve Reached Your Destination
We’re on trains and buses, testifying against criminals, then on a late-night plane to somewhere else. Something in my gut doesn’t sit right, and I have a pain beneath my kneecap. I realize, as I write, this is no help to my reader. How can one escape a world that exists beyond the limits of one’s body? What happens after you must sleep and fall into another land? It’s not all dandelions and sunshine,
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A Stranger in the Woods
art by Roberto Biadi
Written and translated from the Italian by Livio Milanesio
As soon as I turn my phone back on, after landing at Berlin Schönefeld Airport, it notifies me of five missed calls. All from my father. I call him back immediately, fearing the worst.. He answers, with his usual calm voice. He’s surprised I’m already in Berlin—people from his generation never really considered flying an option. He urges me not to tell anyone why I’m here. He’s afraid, he says, that this time the Germans will come after me.
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Life on Three Wheels
Six prose poems by E.M. Palitha Edirisooriya
Translated into English from Sinhala by samodH Porawagamage and Kasun Pathirage
SEPTEMBER 04Lionel Ranwala mahaththaya’s shows and speeches are superb. I came on a hire and stayed on to watch.
Everyone remembers the cake and the bottle on their birthday. Who remembers the birthday as the day their mother went through unimaginable pain? Why have we become brown sahibs? Fine–import the guitar from Germany, but let’s play Asian music.
At the end, Ranwala Sir sold CDs and cassette tapes for cash.
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Bought Woman
art by C. Christine Fair
by Veena Verma, translated from the Punjabi by C. Christine Fair
The entire village was abuzz. A short, stygian Bengali woman had appeared in the home of Driver Maggar Singh, the local truck driver. She had come to Desu Ram’s shop to buy dal and rice in the morning.
The customers milling about gushed forth salaciously, “No one has seen this woman in the village before.”
The woman grabbed a packet of dal and rice and left. Three men began to follow her,
