This boy vacuums the taxidermy. Moves the black nozzle over still-soft hair, over pink-veined ears, polished noses, thick necks. This one...

Holy Socks I have a hard time throwing away holy socks. Every time I put one on, I think, awe man, … this ain’t so bad. When I put one...

Acquiesce Crystalline spider, size of a seed, thumbs clenched edges of the impenetrable peony bud, balled until it’s ready, ...

Tomato picking Grape tomatoes, these swollen berries like summer ornaments, dangle from tethered vine. Their ripeness judged by how...

Venus (c) Serge Lecomte I was born in Belgium. We came to the States where I spent my teens in South Philly and then Brooklyn. After...

KRISTINE ESSER SLENTZ is originally from northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area, or what’s lovingly called “The Region.” Kristine is...

Ode to Perfect Places by Lorde After Lorde somewhere buried underneath a bed of shriveled roses damp dirt & fractured cobblestone the...