A. Riel Regan
GOSSIPSTOPPER
Slice strawberries in half;
These are now the tongues of your enemies.
Sprinkle with black pepper, chili powder;
This is the fire of your rage.
Drive pins through the flesh;
The burn should they dare speak your name.
Charge with obsidian, and speak the words;
Keep my name out of your damn mouth.
Bury it. In their yard;
if you’re brave.
With a lock of their hair;
if you’re braver.
I FLINCH AND SAY
Don’t pretend that a song
can’t flavor a cigarette or that
a cigarette can’t change the way
a song sounds
Don’t pretend that you
can tell me what i need or what
i need to quit when you never
understood my reasons for doing
in the first place.
CHEKHOV’S GUN
Center stage, finally. They’ve been hidden in the wings for so long. But we noticed. There’s foreshadowing and we caught it. We can talk about it. They’ve hung the federal apathy for a women’s rights on the wall, what makes you think they’re gonna stop there? We should talk about it. The curtains ain’t closed yet. What makes you think they won’t fire a heartbeat bill in the third act? We have to talk about it. They’re hanging shredded environmental protections up as targets, they’ve cocked and loaded police brutality— Hell, they’ve taken invasion of privacy off the wall and they’re aiming it. They’re aiming it. Who they aiming at? The safety is off. They ache for it. Has the hero forgotten his lines? Make America Great. Maim America Insane. Drain America’s Brain. Something like that, improvise. The show must go on. What makes you think?
A. Riel Regan is an emerging author of poetry and fiction with an intense appreciation for “the human heart in conflict,” as Faulkner referred to it. Their writing often deals with themes of conflict within the self, chronic illness, knowing oneself through nature, and spiritual connections. Their poetry has been featured in Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel and WORDS, and their piece recognition won the Appalachian Award for Poetry. When not writing or reading, they find themselves killing half their houseplants and boldly defending the other half from their cats.
Find more poetry from issue #1, available in print and digital.