A Note from the Editors: Issue 42
Two Poems
In “Everything I Learned About Love I Learned from the Couple Across the Street”, a love poem drifts to its ever after, while in “How the Girl Became a Poet”, a young Ukrainian girl writes out of rubble
Ladies and Gentleman, Your In-Flight Entertainment for this Evening: Late Capitalistic Nausea
Benjamin Kirby’s humorous essay takes us through the absurdity of a six-and-a-half hour Emirates flight
“Since”
Emirati poet Amal Al Shamsi’s poem explores nostalgia, longing, and a mother-daughter relationship
Even in Saltwater
Andrea Eaker’s short story traces a relationship realizing it has no roots
Soliloquies
Swiveling between memories in Sharjah, Dubai and Cairo, Noor Tannir’s vulnerable personal essay grapples with themes of anxiety, grief, and family illness
Caspian Sea
Persian poet Leila Farjami writes about a complex, knotted mother-daughter relationship. With artwork by Vivian Hagedorn
The Station in Summer
Irish writer Oisin Breen’s poem lurches into being like the arrival of a train. With artwork by Ekaterina Palesskaya
Itthon (At Home)
In a series of personal vignettes, Rose Gove traces their evolving relationship with the country of Hungary
Untitled
Matheus Crespo’s drawn triptych conjures little cities in the nooks of things grown
Two Auditions
In this memoir piece, Ernestine Whitman looks back on her journey as a young girl to becoming a professional flutist
May
New in milk & vodka, Pakistani poet Ammara Jabbar entwines nature with girlhood. With artwork by Keely Mclavin
I am
I am is a digital art project by Ethiopian artist Lidiya Zelke that explores the surreal process of self-discovery and self-understanding
Two Poems
Sharjah-based poet Jared Maxilom’s two poems “Cassandra as a Catalonan at Election Night” and “Balang Araw” dig deep into music and the ravines of Filipino political news. With artwork by Leyton Cassidy
Ladies in Waiting
A short story by Kayla Koontz takes place in a vague, fantastical nowhere island, offering a gendered, implicit critique of the futility of imperialist conquest
कहीं एक मौसम (Kahin Ek Mausam) | Somewhere A Season
The short film 'कहीं एक मौसम' (Somewhere A Season), directed by Harsh Hudda, is about लय (the rhythm) of change within the continuity of life in a distant forest and the lingering of the past in the present
Salt
With salt as her anchor, catalyst, and metaphorical vehicle, Katharine Oden’s prose poem dives into the troubled waters of a mind. With artwork by Luchina Akhmad
Bells and Whistles
A short, nail-biting story about an oncoming train. With artwork by Pawel Pacholec
Cyber Fantasy
Cyber Fantasy challenges the borders of the frame and the screen by digitizing and manipulating the traditional still life to further investigate its place in post-Internet art