For Cornelius Eady and Toi Derricotte

by MAKALANI BANDELE

enter the chorus, elongated,
skyward-raised arms of néré,
praise. vessels of juke,
herald the close of an act

of offerings buried
in escarpment’s face—
in lyrical crevices. a sprinkle
of elephant bone powder wishes

cast…

by KAMILAH AISHA MOON

woke up again parched from a dream

full of old water, the only urgent tide

in me lately. eddies of sweat,

promise perishing in each exhale.

i matter too why didn’t i believe i matter

more than an unblinking, shadowed eye

that…

cavecanemoffsiteawp:

by RACHEL ELIZA GRIFFITHS

Woman, I wish I didn’t know your name.

What could you be? Silence in my house

& the front yard where the dogwood

wouldn’t make up its mind about flowers.

Aren’t you Nature? A stem cringing, half-

shadowed beneath a torque of rain.

I…

cavecanemoffsiteawp:

by ED ROBERSON

But for a low bank of cloud,

clear morning, empty sky.

The bright band of light beneath the cloud’s gray

I thought at first was open distance, but it’s ice

that by extension raised the lake above the lip of blue lake

and spilled it farther out than that horizon