The Price of a Life
By Melanie GrahamShe appears again, 2-year-old riding her hip,
grief so great he can see through her birkha, past Qualaday,
into the kitchen, his mother nurturing chicken
in popping grease.
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And Even George W. is out of a Job
By Kim JensenYou know the economy's bad
when people are lined up around the block
to apply for the job
of the wicked witch.
IUDs
By Kim RobertsWheels, whisks, wishbones,
silhouette of a tiny pine.
Birds in flight and fiddlehead ferns.
A Portrait of America in Trash
By Jose PaduaI give to you a portrait of America in trash.
I give it to you with love and respect, America:
mountains of beer cans crumpled, plastic figures
In Adams Morgan, Two Years of Neighborhood-Wide Reconstruction Come to a Halt for the Night
By Naomi AyalaAnd now, where the moon
rose behind here,
three stories loom—
29 Men
By Heather DavisThe lights in your home channel 29 men, their
soot stained clothes, last breaths, crystalline sweat
let loose on black rock
Oil: A Love Poem
By Chris AugustAmerica, don’t we love like oil?
Don’t our slippery arms
Pave the pores of those who need us?
Mutanabbi Street
By Jody BolzPages flit above the ruined bookstalls.
Blank or dark with words, it doesn’t matter:
paper is as dangerous as ink—as thought.