Excerpts

Two Poems by Tarn Wilson TO THE ART MUSEUM GUARD I never see you walking up the stairs. You appear in rooms as if you were always there. You are in a monk’s cell. At the end of the day,…

This Deep Loneliness by Suzanna C. de Baca   When I was small, otherness was a cloak I forced myself to fit into, a cinched corset, shoes that pinched, too-tight gloves that bunched my fingers into clenched fists. She gnawed…

Unwholly Other By Chris Arthur     This is a personal reflection on otherness, not an academic article about “the other,” so what follows favors a meandering approach over a point-by-point linear unfolding. I’m writing an essay, not an exposition.…

The Storytelling Argument By Gail Louise Siegel   The argument starts this way: “Can’t you just tell me what happened?” I think I am telling him what happened. “I ran into Kate while she was crossing Dodge at the light.…

Children of the Forest by Abi Newhouse In Salt Lake City, I climbed a parking garage in the dark. One that swirls, teenagers would bring their longboards and ride down the ramp. Industrial lights lit the concrete to an unsettling…

The Sound of People Leaving by Jamie Holland Midway through my first semester in college (1982), my mom wrote to tell me that plane tickets were too expensive, so I wouldn’t be coming home for Thanksgiving. Besides, she said, Christmas…

The Loneliness Zone By Bill Marsh I come from a long line of lonely men. Some of these men knew they were lonely, admitted as much in heartfelt letters to loved ones. Others may have known but never gave it…

The Changing Dynamic of  Poetry About Birds (How Poetry About Birds Is Accessed Now as Opposed to How It Was Before Now, Say ‘Then’) By Jayant Kashyap   The most basic and observable change, I’ve come to understand, has been…

Best Left by Jen Hirt   The Mel-O-Cream cashier says call ahead and reserve your favorite doughnuts, otherwise they run out. But I’m here only once, won’t be back, driving through Illinois. Lincoln’s Tomb to what’s left of The Great…