Nuages
by David White
art by Shelly Weathers

Every cloud has its own eclipse
where the sun seems to pass—
but in summer rains, the edge of silver obscures
and the cumulonimbus cliffs billow and fold
and the flat bottom blackens and swells
thick with the smell of kissing vegetation.
It is the farmers who have no use for adages, studying
drops of water that sit on their blackberries,
knowing from darkened heavens the voice of god
saying that even the wicked wet is good.

 

Vacation
by Will Durham
art by Jordyn Murray

We will sit on the balcony and watch the houses fill like throats.
There will be wine and prosecco, though we will not drink.
The trees will be like ghost towns, and a cold wind will run
its hand down our backs. We will slide close.
You will say it’s like living in a dream you never wished for.
We will smile. In a way, the distant glow of fire
will be for us like shooting stars echoing off our eyes
in childhood. When the mail man comes he will give us paper
that burns black smoke and we will watch him be devoured
as he tries to latch the picket fence closed.

 

Valence
by Tim Stobierski
art by Greg Rappa

Hydrogen whispered
“love”

to Lithium,
and they were one.

Potassium whispered
“desire”

to H2O,
and neither survived the explosion.

Uranium whispered
“forever”

to Argon,
and Argon laughed

lies,
leaving Uranium

to finish falling apart
all by itself.

 

Coin of the Realm
by Joslyn Green 
photography by Shannon Von Eschen

In these my days of dabbing thrift
on the pulse points of my blue-veined wrists,

coat pockets lined with lint and loss
and expiration dates, the frost

has dressed grape ivy in the red
of fine imperial claret set

on the gold of beeswaxed sideboard oak
or of a royal velvet cloak —

the richness of the moment worn
as if it has an evermore.

 

—

David L. White resides in the desert southwest with his family and currently teaches creative writing in Tempe, Arizona. His poetry has previously appeared in THRUSH Poetry Journal, Salamander, The Briar Cliff Review, Potomac Review, Paper Nautilus, PRISM international, and elsewhere. He is also the editor-in-chief of SHANTIH Journal, an online literary magazine produced in concert with his former students.

Shelly Weathers’ fiction has appeared in Tahoma Literary Review, Adroit, Sou’wester, Moon City Review, Timber, and elsewhere. Her work has been recognized with the 2013 Beacon Street Prize in Fiction and the 2014 John Steinbeck Short Story Award. She lives in the desert Southwest with her family.

Will Durham is getting his MFA at the University of Washington.

Tim Stobierski is a writer, editor, and online marketer. His first book of poetry, Chronicles of a Bee Whisperer, was published by Grey Sparrow Press in 2013. During his spare time, he manages www.StudentDebtWarriors.com and writes about love, life, and finance.

Joslyn Green writes of love and loss and expiration dates in Denver, Colorado. Also poems of other moments that have mattered.