The Pour
She begins brittle, tightly curled, a rustle of dry whispers waiting for a reason to unfurl. I linger, calm and quiet, until her need stirs me, kindling the flame that…
Amanda RůžičkováAuthor of 53 Articles
Poet in Prague, Midwest-born, fluent in reinvention. Living with stage IV lung cancer and too many unread books. Writing with love and uncertainty—chasing meaning and the everyday beauty that survives
Bric-à-Brac Babel
Beneath a tattered coat, it haunts the street, A mongrel tongue with mischief in its eyes. It lifts what other languages repeat, Then cobbles words and swears it’s neat…
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane
Marisa Crane's speculative fiction book I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself is exactly as fascinating—and rather delightfully odd—as its title. Crane creates a story that creeps carefully beneath your skin and puts down roots by fusing speculative components with profoundly human vulnerability. Crane invites us to a universe where criminal punishment is demonstrated physically as extra shadows—visible reminders of guilt and shame—and she does so with language that moves between poetic tenderness a…
On A Winter Mourning
Beneath the willow's frozen, brittle shade, I mourn the garden buried deep in frost. The tender shoots that once began to fade, Now sleep beneath the ice, forever…
The Faithless by C. L. Clark
C. L. Clark's Faithless gathers the fragments of romance and revolution, building a story that cuts deep and clings on. Set once more in Clark's intricately spun North-African-inspired world, this sequel explores more complex loyalties, precarious alliances, and indeed—more heart-aching Sapphic yearning. Like an well-honed sword, Clark's prose is still sharp-edged and slick, driven in fast, clean and deadly effective. Characters Touraine and Luca return; their responsibilities are greater, thei…
The Hands Know the Hour
In the morning I weigh my hours, measuring minutes I might not meet, I decide to mark the calendar with ink instead of with doubt— As though tomorrow is a…