Critical security alert! Turn back now,
The winter twilight of black and gold seems nice
enough to build a fire in, stop.
Go no further, your bravery needs
no testing, there is nothing more to prove tonight.
The shadows are not who they claim to be.
Native trees? No, they are masks
worn by a cabal in search of personal information,
you will go out to them and cry
thinking darkness will protect you.
Nonsense. After the essential myths run out,
you will find money missing.
The shadows will get lost and soon you will too.
Think it will build character? Guess again.
And this controversy will not get you karma either.
Benjamin Nardolilli currently lives in New York City. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Red Fez, Danse Macabre, The 22 Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Elimae, The Northampton Review, Local Train Magazine, The Minetta Review, and Yes Poetry. He blogs at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com and is trying to publish a novel.
ISSUE TWENTY THREE: Let Yrs Slay Me
Toti O'Brien
Second Blooming
Donna Dallas
Epic Wretch
Juliet Cook
When I was a little girl,
I threw a rock at a crab
and accidentally killed it
Jennifer Metsker & Kendall Babl
Uninvited Images Arriving
to the Lightless Shale of Sleep
Heikki Huotari
Unfinished Sympathy
Barry Charman
Becoming
Benjamin Nardolilli
Pay Attention Update