First Comes the Baby

By Christopher Major If Chari let his birth certificate tell it his fate had been printed in black ink on a document destined for obscurity. Name: Chari Richardson. Race: Black. Mother: Angela Richardson. Mother’s Age: Twenty. Mother’s Race: Black. Mothers Occupation: Student. Farther: Blank Space. Let the coroner tell it Death had been banged into …

Poems by Joe Welch

Dream Baby Dream lightly, then glide Wakefully through a loose-lipped life Bang each drum brought your way Apologize where necessary When tossed a ball, toss it back When planted in the ground, be sure to multiply Given twenty, save ten, spend Ten, make up ten, and dedicate ten Dream lightly, but carry a big lipstick …

A Hole In The Sheet

By Wanda Morrow Clevenger after our first was born Mom came out one day for the whole day   made stew did some laundry found and mended a hole in the bedsheet   took note of every little thing asked embarrassing questions mothers ask daughters at these times   I hemorrhaged after the birth was …

About Me

By Glen Armstrong   You did not say my name. But I assume you were talking. About me. The Skrulls and the Kree. Go to war. I assume it was something I said. A wet sock accentuates. The tile on my bathroom floor. Loose change obscures. A photograph of me as a baby.   Being …