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Flawed ways to recognize what remains of home
The extremely specific black-brown spots on bananas, as though painted upon; symbols in smoke; the convenience of exploitation; the mistake of birth. Perhaps the last one is common in all lands. The uncomfortable ease of your childhood bedroom cannot be replicated. An echochamber of extremity—too cold, or too hot, with peeling walls. And the set…
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SURROGATE
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. I fixate on that ‘cause her voice has fallen to a register that quite cools…
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On Sunday, go to the Pond and be selfish
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, a man buried his brother, you weep for a lover who wouldn’t love you back.…
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When Shall White Lilies Replace my Kalaniot?
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 of Israel, precisely where the October 7 massacres occurred. Both peoples have since used this…
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Diamond in this Room
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 on the way. Fathom comes from old english when it used to mean “embrace”…
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Spetses Sonnets
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. Legend We swim to a cave, underneath the rock ledge inches from our heads. Pleasure…
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Because We Were Girls Together
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 Song of J. Alfred Prufrock) Because We Were Girls Together (a golden shovel) …
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No machine
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 espresso cup — in sand in bone you will learn to drink it. I let…
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houston texas
after a letter about a friend houston is warm and smooth and deep and dark and red. It is the feeling of holding a mug in two hands, of wrapping my hands around a lover’s lower rib cage and knowing this is…
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Shit in my blood
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, mostly water carrying salt & proteins, tranquil medium that shapes time and space, the osmotic…
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Passenger Announcement in Progress
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 — heavy luggage may slow ascent. As we prepare for takeoff, take one last look…
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Jazz
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 molten wax that oozes down far beyond the little sphere of gleaming honeycomb. We…