February 2026
Volume 9, Issue 2
In this issue
Editorial
Mind the Iamb Of Cretics and Amphibrachs
[I]f, for matters of prosodic convenience, a meter is decided not to exist, it will drag a whole trail of potential poems along into oblivion with it.
By Dr Abigail Zammit (University of Malta Junior College)
Poetry
Flowers at my feet
They are perfect proof — / nothing in nature makes sense / except in the light / of evolution. / — Dandelions breaking through concrete. / — Violets…
Poetry
African Speculative Realism
In the silence – a gourd / In the gourd – a mask / In the mask – a prophecy for the unborn / In the prophecy – a storm of retributions / In the storm – a…
Poetry
Anyway
She rarely picked the horses / nor put the crosses on the coupon. / Tea leaves were her forte, up to a point. / The point was either / The Day She Got It…
By Jim Paterson
Poetry
The Conspiracy Theorist’s Mantra
Never shake a hidden hand / if it stinks, bury it / if you don’t want to hear / something, don’t listen / if you don’t want to hear something, nor does…
Poetry
Dreams of the Beach
You said, come down to the beach and see, / but I lay face down on the bed in frozen jetlag, / our bags piled around me in various stages / of…
Poetry
The Artist A Portrait in 15 Tableaux
He surrounds himself in beauty to drown out his feelings of inadequacy.
By a.d.
Poetry
Dream after an open-heart surgery, or how a breakup feels after promises of marriage
Your heart is a surgeon. / It makes an incision in your chest / from within.
Script
A Pheasant Walks into a Bar...
Character list Brian Meade (barman) — in his late twenties Danny Nail — early seventies The Jackal — hard to put an age on him John Buckley — early…
By Mike Guerin
Poetry
Revision
there comes a time when you are moved out of the lives of others / and can’t seem to inhabit your own — / you never knew your own, it’s true, / and panic…
Poetry
Talking Things Over
it’s run off its tracks, this train — / its rails could no longer stretch parallel / under a tongue too hot — / I only wanted to explain / and thought…
Poetry
And now?
You told me: I reconsidered everything, and it is best that you delete those photographs which have been tormenting you for fifty years from the shelf of…
Fiction
The Carnival Mask
Recording session of AE:07-PE, carried out by Archival Research-Assistant Dr Jerome Reid on the 28th July, 20XX.
Poetry
Lost Letter to the North Pole
Dear Santa, / When I was five years old / you forgot to show up.
By Annie ZH Sun
Poetry
Darkness
stalks the books / Standing shoulder to shoulder / Like soldiers in formation / But defenseless / Against the treachery of madness / And the lights that…
Poetry
Bird Feeder
A cardinal snacks on sunflower seeds. / Two feet from the feeder to my patio table — blue, / with yellow chairs just painted by my father. / A year…
Poetry
tired, teetering between the tides—still life in Venice
From the airplane window, I caress / a little fish of stone and cement / emerging from the lagoon / a bittersweet smile; / so charismatic, nostalgic /…
Poetry
My Rolling Seas
My Rolling Sea My Rolling Sea / Alone I waited Aged I waited / for the sun to rise for the sun to rise / over the Sea of Galilee. over the Sea of Galilee.…
By Rory Doherty
Poetry
Garden of the Fugitives
I. / Once taken up by homes, / this whole expanse had been / transformed into a vineyard. / The triclinium held a trio of beds / on which at outdoor…
Poetry
Things to do in Ulaanbaatar
Visit an old Buddhist monastery. / Take a tour of the cashmere factory. / Catch a lecture at the university. / View contemporary art in a gallery. / Toast…
By John Delaney
Poetry
Angst the Color of Thunderstorms
I’ve lingered too long over texts / that fail to instruct but inflict / angst the color of thunderstorms. / My doctor could prescribe a pill / that would…
Poetry
Bio-Rhythms, 24August25, 811pm
Twenty days ’til turning that big 8-0 / doing your damndest / to kick my multiple / middle of night / awakenings / (not unlike / our new / grand / child)…
Poetry
Woodhaven
During the reading at the library / of my old school, I mentioned / a stone tower throwing light signals / to guide the freight trains’ / switchbacks and…
By Cal Freeman
Flash
Empires Rise and Fall
The tiny couple by the brandy cask at the end of the bar dance like there is no tomorrow.
Poetry
Haibun Littoral
Locked inside office hours, I look at a map and plan my next walk.
By Colin Dardis
Poetry
Finding Nomadic Refuge
When my mother lived in Prague / and I lived in her / my father collected papers / for our immigration / and I entered the refuge of a refugee / in a…
Poetry
A Melancholy Tribute
When stars die, they disappear, / but we take no notice of them, / They take none of us. / Yes, but when something dies, / it should have a place / in a…
By George Freek
