LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

POETRY

Noted by Katrina Underwood

Paralysis by Turandot Shayegan

FICTION

The Healing Power of Dogs by Katherine Sinback

Numb by Tina J. Bowman

Winter Solstice by Greta Wu

My ultimate goal as a writer is to bridge the gap between the mediums with the most hard-headed fanbases. It is hard to find someone who loves Hitchcock’s filmography and football. Popular culture is such an umbrella term, but it also has the most divisional subsections and compartments. I went on The Marxist Poetry Podcast a few months ago and talked about the adjacency of popular culture to everyday life. So few writers are attempting to pair those two things together. If I can write a poem about being intersex or watching my grandmother die, and include Frank Ocean lyrics, or inadvertently turn someone on to a new musician or film, then what I’m doing is a success—no matter how big or small. I like Freaks and Geeks, and NBA Slam Dunk Contests, and really sad 1970s soft rock songs. They’re all such an integral part of my everyday world. I want more poems about driving to the grocery store with the radio blaring, and, all of a sudden, “Superstar” by The Carpenters comes on, and you start thinking about your mom, or Chris Farley, or whatever.

Intersex Boy Watches Episode Seventeen of Freaks and Geeks for the First Time by Matt Mitchell

It’s Nothing New, but Again, It’s Spectacular!

Retired Boxer

A Hunk of Swollen Offense Runs Deep Into the Winter Dark

The Honeylocust