Issue No.6 Poetry
  • Jill Khoury

My mother speaks to me from the grave, again
My mother speaks to me from the grave, again 1920 1037 Jill Khoury

Have you noticed lately your sagging pinions? A decrease of nectar in the neckskin. Stomach like a blank sack, a slack snap. Those duck feet, paddling mad. From down here,…
  • Michael Garrigan

Where is this god you speak of?
Where is this god you speak of? 1280 1920 Michael Garrigan

It was the word “god” that tore me apart after you said he punishes those that masturbate. I was 13. I never valued cruelty. That word packed full of punishment…
  • Raisa Elhadi

Colossus Crushes the Caged Bird
Colossus Crushes the Caged Bird 1920 1326 Raisa Elhadi

give me your give me your your tired – tired – tired – a long hot walk – tired – your eyelids drooping – the swimming desert – your last…
  • Jane Williams

When women share their stories with other women
When women share their stories with other women 1920 1367 Jane Williams

Dust falls from crystal balls everywhere. Empty fields signed beware of the bull call out memory’s bluff as one by one old selves old beliefs are drawn forth shrugged off…
  • alyssa hanna

lucky sevens
lucky sevens 1920 1440 alyssa hanna

(This poem was accepted prior to alyssa hanna’s involvement in the Barren Magazine Masthead.) Header photograph © Christopher Nielsen.
  • Sarah Priscus

Winter Walk, Warming
Winter Walk, Warming 801 699 Sarah Priscus

Every breath is burning, every breath is yours. Lean against the gas station ice-box, with the penguins on the side – I’ll sleep in snow-drifts until the morning light pours.…
  • Naomie Jean-Pierre

Belly Up
Belly Up 1709 1920 Naomie Jean-Pierre

for her this will be the last one the last poem about uteruses i mutter. let’s play deserted island you can only choose one food item for the rest of…
  • Joshua Clayton

Let Me Levitate Just a Little While
Let Me Levitate Just a Little While 960 540 Joshua Clayton

Before it slips by, like a solstice, make notes from all these everyday innovations: the better form for holding to the body of a broom, the spot where if you…
  • Betty Stanton

Roads Home
Roads Home 1920 1440 Betty Stanton

The paths we take to come home again are longer than those same roads are away. They arc, electricity lighting the sullen midnight dark, stretching out in the dim spaces…
  • Chestina Craig

Athena
Athena 1920 1440 Chestina Craig

For the 14ft Hammerhead Shark caught off a beach in Texas that died after it was brought to shore where I’ve been, great hammerheads are named after Gods. this is…
  • Ace Boggess

Nothing I’d Like More
Nothing I’d Like More 1920 1440 Ace Boggess

Header photograph © Lannie Stabile.
  • Sarah Schaff

when I said I was starving
when I said I was starving 1512 1798 Sarah Schaff

Header photograph © Kelly DuMar.
  • Bruce Meyer

Fare
Fare 1281 1920 Bruce Meyer

A poet I knew was stabbed to death while driving cab on the graveyard shift. His last verse was the sound you hear when you can’t sleep and a car…
  • Divya Iyer

Acrostics in which neither of us say the word loneliness
Acrostics in which neither of us say the word loneliness 1920 1080 Divya Iyer

1 paws up & fingers down, my boy’s here to catch the first bit of snow in his mouth. origami sunsets fold into quarters. i watch his hands and i…
  • Luke Larkin

Home, Once
Home, Once 1920 1280 Luke Larkin

Header photograph © J. Bish.
  • Kayla King

Something to Come Before the End
Something to Come Before the End 1500 1407 Kayla King

This world will erase you, he said, but it wasn’t a threat. Shadows nip at your knees to peel open: gore of glitter flecked with black salt, to protect. It’s…
  • Olga Dermott-Bond

flower press
flower press 1280 1280 Olga Dermott-Bond

Header photograph © Kelly DuMar.
  • Jane Rosenberg LaForge

Nightmare
Nightmare 1920 1280 Jane Rosenberg LaForge

I’ve had bad dreams too, you know. I can neither read nor relevé while on stage. I cannot figure out how to use the phone. The supplies I need are…

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