Mother Needs by Elena Zhang The children were coming, and she needed to be ready. Needed to build skin, layer by layer. Cushions of dermis so thick she could see the strata over time, like a canyon wall clock. She softened wrinkled leather into supple bruised peach peels. Salted her abscission. When they came, they came hungry. Stripped it all away. One bite at a time. Revealed orange sunsets, pink blushes. There was so little of her left, dripping sweetly and alone amongst many. In the end, she was glad. Now they would all see how raw she was underneath.

Happy to have two new prose poems in the latest issue of @theprosepoem.bsky.social! Here’s one:
theprosepoem.com/issue-43-bru...

Stefanie Kirby, featured in the Ocean State Review - The Ocean State Review woman approaches a house as a wolf. A house of sticks / stacked like bones, bones lit like matches or shelved along / walls to dry. To house these bones demands loss, nothing left / in a vat that chew...

Delighted to have one of my poems from the latest Ocean State Review up on their blog alongside some generous commentary from Poetry Editor Mary Robles!

oceanstatereview.org/2026/04/15/s...

The Invisible Man by Joshua Hebburn I’d slept for only four hours that day. When I was looking at his face, I saw another face. It was as if an artist had drawn it smoothly into the natural lines, the fine hair, wrinkles, flecks of pigm...

"I’d slept for only four hours that day."

This week on hex, @joshuahebburn.bsky.social is back with a brief, perfectly written bit of delirium. A ripple in perception. A face and another face. Don't miss this wonder, "The Invisible Man," up now on the site! 🤔😐😶

I wrote a little story & would be very honored if you should take a moment to read it. If you don't like it, I'll buy you a beer next time we meet. Much gratitude to Wigleaf, @wigleaf.bsky.social, one of my favorite places to read short fiction online, for giving it a home.

I have a new story in Midway Journal this week. When Jesus gives highly specific life advice via scratch-off lottery tickets, it’s important to listen. midwayjournal.com/jesus-scratc...

Mother Needs by Elena Zhang The children were coming, and she needed to be ready. Needed to build skin, layer by layer. Cushions of dermis so thick she could see the strata over time, like a canyon wall clock. She softened wrinkled leather into supple bruised peach peels. Salted her abscission. When they came, they came hungry. Stripped it all away. One bite at a time. Revealed orange sunsets, pink blushes. There was so little of her left, dripping sweetly and alone amongst many. In the end, she was glad. Now they would all see how raw she was underneath.

Happy to have two new prose poems in the latest issue of @theprosepoem.bsky.social! Here’s one:
theprosepoem.com/issue-43-bru...

Hey! I have a poem in the 30th edition of @petrichorlit.bsky.social as they celebrate 10 years!

Read this poem to find out why I was fired by the Audubon Society!

petrichormag.com/30-frances-k...

Everything Must Go by Mercer Eddy There’s a void behind the Larsons’ house. They had a yard sale. They found a buyer. If you throw in a rock, there’s no rock anymore. If you flick in a contraband joint, no you didn’t....

“There’s a void behind the Larsons’ house. They had a yard sale. They found a buyer.”

🛸🛸 new one from @goodvibesnerd.bsky.social

www.nightshadesmag.com/everything-m...

Climate Disaster Forests grow in mouths. Evolution from whale to god. When I made a baby, 1 put the bones on the outside.

One of mine in the latest issue of Ink in Thirds

#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social

It's so lovely to see my book in the world. Thanks Annie Stenzel for being such a great lit citizen.

If you would like a copy, you can get a signed one on my website (Paypal only) or purchase one from @diodeeditions !

koss-works.com

#poetrybook, #lammyfinalist

erasure poem with collage from "Classic Crimes"

"April is one of the / broken folk"

a poem from Classic Crimes for #smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social

I think I pulled a little god from my mouth that's what she said the night they found her throat in the alleyway behind HomeSense, rolling around in vernix and blood. No time to call the doctor, her jaw had simply hinged open like a red tulip on autopilot. Rumor has it this woman birthed a voice the size of her entire life. MARIA GIESBRECHT

Maria Giesbrecht ~ I think I pulled a little god from my mouth

A shirtless man with a skull for a face holding in his outstretched arm a human head with a flower in its mouth. The person is standing in a collage of torn papers that look like waves. Text reads: after you're sick of the sea there's this: more sea

My brother turned the opening poem from HAIR SHIRT into a poster that was one of 50 selected to be displayed in a poster exhibition in Greece.

Climate Disaster Forests grow in mouths. Evolution from whale to god. When I made a baby, 1 put the bones on the outside.

One of mine in the latest issue of Ink in Thirds

#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social

Even shadows soften in April's thaw, huge shapes breathing just beneath black dirt, loosening the contours we thoughts locked hard all winter.

Patrick Morrissey

@vergebooks.bsky.social

POEM 327: "Language Only Heaven Understands" by Donna Vorreyer @djvorreyer.bsky.social

drunken wedding guests slur apologies
for eating all the frosting roses with their hands

the silent syllables of a skull, its unhinged jaw
open like a mute and welcoming hand

stonecirclereview.com/language-only

Where have you been, I asked the myth. She didn’t answer.

These are great!

I’ve got 3 ekphrastic prose poems up at the Bulb Region! Very excited about all the amazing work Sarp’s been publishing and honored to be included.

The Myth — M E N A C E

Excited to have a prose poem in the latest issue of Menace!

www.menace-mag.com/the-myth-ele...

This was so fun!

Thank you!!

Longevity The crane bends over backwards trying to see the star in my brain. I didn’t put it there. It was the aliens. There was no more room in the sky for a white dwarf, but my skull was empty and vast. Now I am dense and decaying. I try to tell this to the crane, but it has already exploded, feathers raining everywhere.

Ohhhh, this short poem by Elena Zhang ( @ezhang77.bsky.social ) in Passages North

You know it's gonna fall down but you have no idea how hard it's going to fall down

the recording of last night’s reading is up now on YouTube!! ICYMI, check out the brilliant work that @gr8earlofhell.bsky.social, @travisshosa.bsky.social, @ezhang77.bsky.social, & @whoastanderson.bsky.social shared via the 🔗 below :) 💡

Thank you so much!

Huge fan of both of these writers! Can’t wait to get their new collections!

The Myth — M E N A C E

Excited to have a prose poem in the latest issue of Menace!

www.menace-mag.com/the-myth-ele...

Share with Chicago poet friends

poetry.submittable.com/submit/35284...

Two Poems by Todd Dillard - The Dodge

suuuuuuuuuper excited to be a featured poet in the latest issue of @thedodgemag.bsky.social! Check out my new poems! thedodgemag.com/spring-2026-...