A Note from the Editors: Issue 43
You Are Masters Of The Fish And Birds And All The Animals
Images from American photographer Shane Rocheleau’s eponymous book form a portrait of the psyche of white heteronormative masculinity and its visceral manifestations in the United States – accompanied with an artist Q&A
Butt Waxing: A Cheeky Ass Experience
"Yes – it was my ass. An ass that needed grooming. " In this comedic essay – nearly a standup skit – Gaurav Dewani recounts his first butt-waxing experience
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, Black Fathers, and White Women
EIC Zoe Patterson weaves together an analysis of Kendrick Lamar's new album with grief over her relationship with an absent parent
Familiar Traces
Directed by Izzy Mana and Enrico Bellenghi, Familiar Traces is a fashion film narrative which explores the internal pressure that second generation Black British youth face from a young age
Masculinity
Twisting myths, tropes, and figures – both human and animal – in and out of each other, Iranian multidisciplinary artist Zahra Mohamadi undercuts our constrictive constructions of gender
Chromosome Y
Tommaso Montino’s photographic series captures young men on the cusp of adulthood as they grapple with their masculinity and the surrounding dreams, softness, and violence of their cities
Love Not: 1 Plus 1 = 0
Logic and alpha-maleness stifle the potential for love in this poem by San Antonio poet, Catherine Lee
Dirty Laundry
"Like merchandise, men do not live long." This found poem by Ricky Novaes de Oliveira is composed entirely from words taken from clothes labels and tags. With artwork by Sandra Paris
High in Fire Country
With a wildfire looming in the distance, an author sets out to write something that will make him feel seen, in this evocative poem by William Doreski
Spectacular Faults
TW: physical and sexual abuse
An excerpt from Sondra R. Brooks’ unpublished memoir, this personal essay paints a childhood haunted by the damaging spectre of hypermasculine, alpha father figures
Ethan, Or the First Time I Laid Eyes on You
“You’re the laid back type unlike the boys / I’m used to, who prance about in search of toxic masculinity” – Shane Allison’s new poem enacts a queer romance in a bar.
A True War Story
Vamika Sinha retells the water buffalo scene from Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story”, from the perspective of another soldier.
Home(town) Boys
New in milk & vodka, Zoe Jane Patterson unfurls the smothering of vulnerability in young boys, the “bros”of her hometown.
Barefoot
New in poetry, by Dayin Wijaya.
Wild Jungle Boy
New in poetry, by Tzy Jiun Tan.
Prince Charming Has a Little Fat Horse
“I am too woman to be yet another woman you / Barge into. Surprise surprise. I have removed the welcome mat and replaced it with / A bed of knives” - laying out the terms in the face of a new relationship.
Boys Your Age
“Before they could afford a car they had already / Driven you insane” – new in milk & vodka, a poem blasting how patriarchy entraps men and hurts women.
In my brother I see:
A tender ode to the poet’s brother, by Mhraf Worku.
The Pond
New in fiction, by Zoe Jane Patterson.