Ava Adelaja’s poem was a finalist for the 2025 Nassau Weekly Poetry Competition. SURROGATE For Pamela (Mimi) I. Her hair’s somewhat intact, ruddy clumps on the skin, hanging like the sanguine bush-berries you’re not supposed to eat, tempting. … Read More
Iman Monfopa Kone’s poem was a finalist for the 2025 Nassau Weekly Poetry Competition. On Sunday, go to the Pond and be selfish there you will find that there is no great mystery. and even though this morning, … Read More
The Kalaniot (poppy anemone) is a potent symbol for both Israelis and Palestinians: its red, white, and black petals and green stem match the colors of the Palestinian flag, while in the winter it famously blankets the Otef Azah region … Read More
We all want the melt of you the pulsing red ocean full of brine, combed by pearly topsail shimmers imagined to infinity but never really making slices, want to drive a four-fathom pike down and down and lose it … Read More
Avery Gendler’s sonnet series was awarded first place in the 2025 Nassau Weekly Poetry Competition. The poems demonstrated not only an innovative style but a commitment to consistent and beautiful language — making the old new again. Spetses Sonnets I. … Read More
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; I know the voices dying with a dying fall Beneath the music from a farther room. So how should I presume? (from The Love … Read More
In lieu of goodbye I send a tiny house in the mail, flimsy porcelain talisman a weak barricade. Like Joni I become cellophane, no personal defenses, the wrapper on a pack of cigarettes, the dirt on the road of your … Read More
i was thinking about what’s in my blood and it’s mostly genetic stuff but also a wasteland if you’ve read T.S. Eliot so if you’re curious here’s not all just some of the shit in my blood: 55% plasma, … Read More
A soft chime. The PA system exhales with a crackle before speaking. Good evening, passengers, and welcome aboard Flight QTR955. Please ensure your seatbelt is securely fastened. Stow all carry-on memories beneath the seat or within overhead compartments. Pack lightly … Read More
We are in assembly. Voices intermingle with deep jazz that drips from speakers stationed all around the house. Something beneath my sternum vibrates silently. The lights are colder than I know you’d prefer. But I’ve got candles at home, with … Read More
In August, you were real and unreal. Lying on the floor in sticky heat, I wrote lines to you in my head, Crossed them out. As summer slipped I sensed the shape of you in fever dreams. I told … Read More
