April 2022 | poetry
Especially in winter
everyone knows coyotes
are tempted by lapdogs – on leash or off –
as much as by rabbits or mice.
Their wild eyes glow white like stars
in their dark dens. No coyote pup grows up
with Grandma’s yarn Shih Tzu gracing
its duvet. Or stays cute all its doggy years.
Better make yourself Big. Wave
your arms. Pretend to be wild
to protect little Gizmo who must
pretend to be human for you.
Paula Reed Nancarrow
Paula Reed Nancarrow is a Best of the Net- and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and winner of the Winter 2020 Sixfold Poetry Prize. Print publications include Sixfold, Artemis and Whistling Shade, with work forthcoming in Permafrost, Paterson Literary Review, The Avalon Literary Review, and Night Picnic. Find links to poems available online at paulareednancarrow.com.
April 2022 | poetry
The apple.
lightheaded, dizzy
and smoking
in the morning.
and I know
you don’t like
when I do this
so early, so I go
somewhere else
while I do.
bring my first
cup of coffee, my phone
or a book. and you come in;
you don’t mind – talk about
the coming workday
and ask me
would I like
an apple
for breakfast
to go with the coffee,
the cigarette. and I do;
not because
I want the apple
but I want you
to come back here
and to hear you
saying
more things
while you bring it to me.
Seeing the moon in daylight
it’s not uncommon,
but still is a thing
you might note. like birdsong.
a rock – the right rock reaching out
to your hand from a riverbed.
white rim asplinter;
a piece of white eggshell, sinking
so deep into blue. listen –
we were walking together.
the moon was there.
over the city. july
and the 5pm blue.
like pulling a rock
out of water –
the smooth feeling:
fingertip cold.
sometimes they reach
when you see them.
when they do
you do too – look at them.
put them in your pocket.
DS Maolalai
DS Maolalai has been nominated nine times for Best of the Net and seven times for the Pushcart Prize. He has released two collections, “Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden” (Encircle Press, 2016) and “Sad Havoc Among the Birds” (Turas Press, 2019). His third collection, “Noble Rot” is scheduled for release in April 2022.
April 2022 | visual art
Back Against the Wall
John Morabito
Born in 1987 John Morabito has been making photographs for the last 20 years. John studied at UMass Lowell as a student of Arno Rafael Minkkinen where he received a BFA with a concentration in fine art photography. His work draws influence from street photographers like Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, and contemporary photographers such as William Eggleston, Larry Clark, Stephen Shore. John’s interest in photography began in high school where he often could be found during free periods and even some missed classes in the darkroom. John’s work is largely documentary in nature and centers around themes of love, loss, and loneliness. His subjects often include his family, partners, and friends but sometimes include passers-by. Primarily shooting 35mm B & W film, John also uses digital and color film. Photographic series include Damaged Goods, Laundrolove, and The Bathers Project.
