
VERSIFICATION

APRIL
punk poetry
2021
DISTURBING
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DISTURBING
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unhinged
laura lane
The rice began to squirm
tiny almost imperceptible movements
playing tricks on my fragile mind
LAURA LANE

WHAT A WAY TO DIE
maxwell pretzer
Lying in the mud. Spindly legs like
gnarled petrified trees. Some picked off.
Others reaching out for salvation that never came.
Not gorged upon but nicked and nibbled at.
Dismembered. Glimmering.
MAXWELL PRETZER & DYLAN REBECCA KEITH
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CHRIS G.
if i get like that put a bag over my head
simon alderwick
we know how it ends: our Cadillac flying
off of a high cliff
I should be listening to you
but you bring out the man in me
so I become my father
we kill our parents, wives,
boyfriends, bosses,
family pets. we leave a trail of dead—
enough for our own network documentary.
ABATTOIR
jo withers
The organ grinders' home,
Bleat and moan,
Meat and bone.
​

expulsion
at glen falls
maggie petrella
we were / face in the bowl
leaking / from every pore
cold sweat / tear-eyed / snot-nose
with the burn of / expelling /
what will / kill you if you hold it in
SARA DOBBIE
all the kids in my village have the same earliest memory
luke bateman
The look on the magician’s face
When he realised the rabbit
Had suffocated in his hat.

untitled
paul veracka
Adam woke up
Broke off his rib
Told his first born you will never be shit
SARA DOBBIE

SARA DOBBIE
URBAN
PORN
robin mcnamara
The urban man
Ate his own erotic
Thoughts from
The silicone chip
In his hand.

E.L. BLIZZARD
A SURVIVOR'S
BABY LOVE
E.L. BLIZZARD
hands cover
two blackened eyes
peek-a-boo
MONSTER
anna nightingale
I was younger when I gripped my throat,
held my breath until my whole face turned cranberry-
capillaries bursting at my temples.
My teacher told me to stop,
the lack of oxygen to my brain
would affect my memory.

untitled haiku
stephen toft
carrying the coffin -
the undertaker
says i'm a natural
SARA DOBBIE

SARA DOBBIE
my son won't stop decapitating
the snowman
elizabeth muller
I kept trying to fix it
But honestly -
It felt better
When we both
Stomped it
With our boots.
MOTH EATER
McCaela Prentice
moth wings melt like wafer in the mouth
blood moon sits on the night’s shoulder like a nectarine
acts of mercy are just like kissing-
the lacewings sulfating on the bug zapper are still
just like kissing.

david calogero centorbi presents,
AND BEFORE
THE FIRST DAY
god mixed existence with nonexistence
and swallowed all that is
then pissed it out
and called it eternity
CHRIS G.
i read your fucking story
suzy eynon
is the most terrifying first line
to read in an email from someone
breaking a fifteen year silence
MAKES NO DIFFERENCE
sara dobbie
the nights can get bad
when the empty bathtub
holds me
like a womb,
like a coffin.
throat fuck
j henry
i want you
​
to throat fuck me
until breathing
​
becomes an option

ROBERT FROMBERG
mom having sex in the rain
robert fromberg
She leads us outside
Stands under the rain streaming from a V in the roof
Removes her blouse, her pants, her underwear
Rotates slowly, arms outstretched
Rain streaming over her breasts, her stomach, her pubic hair
As the family watches

untitled
stoly manning
There was a part of me that still wanted to make you happy
even when you left me. I took it out into a field, early april
the grass was tall and the sky was blue and cloudless
and I shot it
STOLY MANNING
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SARA DOBBIE
SOCIALISM
daniel schulz
​
Mopping up the floor
of a souvenir shop
for six euros an hour
while the radio is singing,
"A working class hero is something to be,"
on these bloody 12 hour days.
melts
james lilley
She pricks between the toes
so no one notices
some people don’t want to stop
I want to tell her it won’t keep the monsters away
But I just melt with her instead.

CHRIS G.
monday is like a smoking habit you can't get rid of
fizza abbas
The day tastes bitter and dry,
like a dark patch you see on the lips of a smoker:
blemishes of one last apology
half-settled at the tip of the vicious iceberg.
taken
amy-jean muller
I remember when I stole cigarettes
from my childhood friend’s father
And when I sucked on them that night
It reminded me of Him
too

SARA DOBBIE
my ex's favorite poet
kip knott
Your man T. S. Eliot claims that April is
the cruelest month. You left me in December
with nothing but the snow of windblown
drifts marking the emptiness between us
to soothe the burns that nearly consumed me.
What the fuck does T. S. Eliot know?

SARA DOBBIE
portland
abigail swire
There's quite a view, a building space with arts studios, lights on, empty at night.
The empty is art. We rode up the elevator past the 13th floor that doesn't exist in this place. Where is the 13th floor? I feel sorry for it.
"My cancer is weird," she says. Says it with love.
Like it's something you can hold.
MEET THE AUTHORS
luke bateman
all the kids in my village have the same earliest memory
Luke Bateman is a poet and historian from Lancashire, UK. Recently, he’s been tussling with snake-gods, practising his pirate voice and dreaming of the outside world. His writings (in Neuro Logical Literary Magazine, the Minison Project and Glitchwords amongst others) can be found at linktr.ee/lukebateman, or follow him on Twitter @ekulbat.
e.l. blizzard
a survivor's baby love
E. L. Blizzard lives in the US South and is published in a few handfuls of journals. After giving up on looking for the helpers, she tried to be one. She’s spent years in advocacy, allying with immigrants/refugees, cis/straight/LGBTQ+ survivors of intimate partner violence, and those experiencing homelessness.
suzy eynon
i read your story
Suzy was raised in Arizona and lives in Seattle where she works in college admissions, knits, and writes. She once got into a screaming match with her sister in front of Suns basketball star Cedric Ceballos at a Phoenix area PetSmart. Her fiction appears or is forthcoming in Iris Literary Journal, The Nonconformist, Airplane Reading, and WORK. Twitter: @SuzyEynon, or suzyeynon.com.
robert fromberg
mom having sex in the rain
Robert Fromberg has been shamelessly trading on his punk past for more than 45 years, when at the age of 16 he moved alone to New York City, worked at a place called the Village Stripper, and spent his nights at CBGB. Since then, he taught Serious Writing at Northwestern University and has published prose in Hobart, Bitchin’ Kitsch, Drunk Monkeys, and elsewhere. His memoir is forthcoming from Latah Books. Twitter and IG: @robfromberg
j henry
throat fuck
j henry is a queer writer living in a dank bunker somewhere in s/e california. his words can be found littered in the rejection bins of numerous on-line and analog outlets but has found some success on the fringe, where he definitely belongs. for more go to www.jackhenry.wordpress.com
laura lane
unhinged
Canadian author, poet and flash fiction writer Laura Lane balances the left brain with the right, mixing bookkeeping, taxes, and financial statements with poetry, writing and art. She lives by her computer, conquers her fears by skydiving and dreams of canoeing on the lake or reading books under the trees. Visit her website LauraLane.ca to learn more. @LauraLaneLSC Twitter @Hope.Strength.Courage IG & Tiktok
robin mcnamara
urban porn
Robin McNamara has over 145 poems published worldwide in America, Canada, Ireland and in the UK with Versification, Pink Plastic House, Daily Drunk, Full House Literary Magazine, Dream Journal, Literary Heist & Ephemeral Elegies. Robin is regular contributor to Poetry Ireland and Black Bough Poetry poetry prompts. Robin’s debut chapbook, Under A Mind’s Staircase is to be published with Hedgehog Poetry Press in 2021. You can find Robin on Twitter @thewindingroad1
anna nightingale
monster
Anna Nightingale is an editorial assistant at a London publishing house and a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Her work has appeared in Aurelia, Porridge and Bindweed Magazine. She once won $500 in a selfie contest, and never lets anyone forget that. She tweets about books @annapublishing.
maggie petrella
expulsion at glen falls
Maggie Petrella (she/her) is a poet based in Buffalo, New York, but is more likely to be found in her RV. Her work has appeared in Back Patio Press, dwelling literary, Southchild Lit, and others. She can be found online at maggiepetrella.com or on twitter @maggie_425.
mccaela prentice
moth eater
McCaela Prentice is living and writing in Astoria, NY. Her first love was Brendan Fraser. Her poetry has previously been featured in Ghost City Press, Hobart, and Perhappened Magazine. Her poetry chapbook JUNK DRAWER HEART was published by Invisible Hand Press in 2020. She retweets frog memes @mccaelaa
daniel schulz
socialism
Daniel Schulz is a German-American writer, researcher, and factory worker, known for his short story collection Schrei and for inventorizating and curating Kathy Acker's personal library at the University of Cologne. His works have appeared in Der Federkiel, Luftruinen, Die Novelle, The Transnational, Mirage #5, Gender Forum, Fragmented Voices and the German anthology Tin Soldier. His most current work is Kathy Acker in Seattle (Mis-Fit Lit 2020).