i was afraid my bleeding would inconvenience you

MAMA BY KIMBERLY THEODORE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 136

mama,

did you know i got my period

six months before i actually told you?

i was afraid my bleeding would inconvenience you

more than i already did 

FINDING FEATHER BY NICOLE PEPAJ 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 136

.I drank the Kool-Aid hard, shoved it into my brain through a metal IV tube, rewired every neuron for this one relentless purpose. Being a Hotshot.

BADLANDS BY GEORGE WEHRFRITZ 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 136

Mason beheld the pre-dawn vista: Badlands to infinity.

Never met anyone who knows how to outline fulfillment.

ORANGE PARALLELOGRAM BY ELLEN RACHLIN 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 136

Never met anyone who knows

how to outline fulfillment—

to assign boundary.

Consider border

of parallelogram

and orange joy.

STARTING AGAIN BY LINDSAY SMITH 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 136

We could be archaeologists together, together all the time, digging in the sand for ancient relics.