Online Issues
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Rooms at the Edge of the World
art by Beth Kephart
by Choo En Ting
Choo En Ting is a Singaporean writer & editor based in Los Angeles. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Sonora Review, Literally, The Foundationalist, Kopi Break Poetry, and elsewhere. He won the USC Undergraduate Writers’ Conference in his sophomore year, and he was awarded a scholarship from the New York State Summer Writers Institute. He has received support from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.
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Nothing Stinks Like Lust in a Young Woman
art by Virgil Suárez
by Hajer Requiq
Nothing stinks like lust
in a young woman.
My cannibal heart is drunk
on its own blood.
For nearly thirty years,
it’s eaten nothing but shame.
Today, it sits in my chest
like a hump on a hunchback,
useless and heavy.
I am still teaching the tornados
in my body
to turn into summer breeze.
My last lover couldn’t make it
past my mouth.
My Cerberus tongue
howling and yowling
at the gate, -
Knox, and Breakfast Sundaes
art by Virgil Suárez
by Taylor Sykes
Knox
We take Route 231 that day to a nowhere town an hour away. We’d heard it was something to do in the summer when there was nothing to do in the summer. She says, “I don’t think I’ll do it but I’ll watch you.” And I say, “You better get this shit on tape. I want a record of my recklessness.” Just another corn town on a yawn of flat road where country kids go when they’re bored. Go looking for a gravel road near a bridge where no trains pass.
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Global Voices: A conversation with Iranian poet Ali Asadollahi
by LIT Translation Editor J.P. Apruzzese
Introduction
For more than two decades, Iranian poet, translator, and editor Ali Asadollahi has been quietly expanding the possibilities of contemporary Persian poetry. The author of six poetry collections, he has written across free verse, haiku, visual poetry, and other experimental forms, guided by a restless commitment to exploration rather than any single aesthetic program. Alongside his own work, he has devoted himself to translation, introducing contemporary world poetry to Persian readers while helping bring Persian literature into conversation with audiences beyond Iran.
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The Bronx, 1961
art by Stephen Ground
by Shana Ritter
The street is sheen heat flickers
off the sidewalks, we skip
to avoid cracks not wanting
to break any backs. Shouts
of ringolevio, echo off brick
squat six story buildings.
In the shade girls doubledutch chanting
I know something I won’t tell
three little monkeys in a peanut shell
on the corner another group surrounds
one girl bouncing a Spalding, singing
A my name is Alice and, raises her legs
above the ball back and forth
in graceful arcs through the alphabet. -
Three Models of a Completely Empty Notebook
art by Suzana Stojanović
by Marushka Rose Grogan
Section 1: Introduction
For years, I’ve sensed my life colliding with the snapped-string signs
That used to tieAtoms, you, and me.
The first thing you must know is that this book is completely empty
It’s the only way I was able to keep it allOrganized
The first thing you must know is that these pages are now full.
