I gave the bathtub purity and honor, and the sky noctilucent clouds, and the kingfisher her implacable devotees. I gave salt & pepper the table, and the fist its wish for bloom, and the net its knotholes of emptiness. I gave the loaf its slope of integrity, the countertop belief in the horizon, and mud…
Left of the @ sign the e-mail address was ethnically gendered with the nonce noun sistah, which, I have to confess, I scoffed at, thinking it was from some self- discovering student of mine, before realizing it was my aunt who sent the jpeg from her cell phone. My aunt who doesn’t mind a bit…
To imagine the sweetness pushing through my veins like grains of glass scarring a beach when the tide sweeps in. To prick my finger and squeeze a drop of blood, angel rich, earth heavy, onto a test strip. To wait for the meter as it counts, and stare past the little black numbers all the…
The screen’s fabrications remain. A film shot never fails, sailing through the century like a black v at the hour of moaning. I premiere these pontifical birds: villagers march and raise their arms, Marschlieder. Thus I am your sweet messenger glittering more than first stars, a harvest of light concealing your nicks and little deaths….
It’s my first class in the infra-tactile studies program it meets in the Incunabula Collection of the Bancroft it’s Nate Mackey’s class Professor Mackey is young wears jeans and Professor Mackey wears a brown leather belt a big, oval silver buckle with inlaid blossoms the heels of…
I was sitting on the bitch tree, smirky and small. Just me to myself with my hats on, a tulle dress eating pomegranates, throwing seeds, as the sun rose and fell into my body’s mouth. There were no boo hoos but murmurs and people far below grew distant. Money fell out of the tree, honey…
This morning’s hothouse: a pornography. All my darlings pressing up to watch My fan-dance, velvet spathe flourishing Open to my hidden plush. I will peel down To my inmost creases for you, and your camera Will snap and whine, but we both know You’re not after some glossy shot For your desktop botanical. What you…
Cohen Awards Each year, we honor the best poem and short story published in Ploughshares with the Cohen Awards, which are wholly sponsored by our longtime patrons Denise and Mel Cohen. Finalists are nominated by staff editors, and the winners—each of whom receives a cash prize of $600—are selected by our advisory editors and staff….
meanwhile, back at the castle… the fan made in Taiwan is sputtering. the boring commercials for male enhancement and arthritis cures blare. someone’s dragging their feet. the idiot thugsta in the spanking convertible corners curbside, speakers on boom. space shuttle Discovery cracks the atmosphere. the effing faucet is dripping. the thousand sparrows are singing down…
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