Light
by Nikolaj Volgushev

We were in the dark, so we turned on a light, and then another, and another, turned on all the lights we could find, but it still wasn’t bright enough, so we lit some candles, and got the fireplace going in the living room, and then we started burning furniture, the kitchen chairs and dinner table and old mahogany cabinet, and, realizing that we were finally getting somewhere, we went ahead and set fire to the building, at which point the wind took over, and in no time the whole city stood ablaze, flames roaring, and it sure was bright enough then.

Review #14
by Laurel Radzieski
Illustration by Sarah Proctor Perdew

This book contemplates purple
a lot. Violet, lavender, plum,
lilac, as if the author pressed flowers
between the words. There are dribbles
of yellow, likely my own mustard fingerprints,
evidence of a once eaten sandwich.
To be honest, the curry-colored blotches
do wonders for the text. I’m available
to add similar smudges to previously
purchased copies, for a small fee.

Through Thin Walls
by Sarah Lilius

The neighbor vacuums up
stories. I hear the loud drama
noise rattle in the canister.

She bumps the wall loud
as if on purpose, to shake
those last syllables from
the brush.

Her grip on the metal wand
remembers everything.

 

–

Nikolaj Volgushev’s fiction has appeared in journals such as the Cafe Irreal, HOOT, Cleaver Magazine, and Cease, Cows. He currently lives in Denmark where he writes, programs, and does other things along those lines.

Laurel Radzieski is the author of Red Mother (NYQ Books, 2018). Her poems have appeared in Kosmos Journal, Really System, Atlas and Alice, Glintmoon, and elsewhere. She earned her MFA from Goddard College.

Sarah Lilius is the author of four chapbooks, including GIRL (dancing girl press, 2017). Her work can be found in Luna Luna Magazine, Pithead Chapel, and Fourteen Hills. Her website is sarahlilius.com.