miCRo: “Or Better Yet” by Melissa Llanes Brownlee
In “Or Better Yet,” Llanes Brownlee captures the whirlwind of color and sound of a bustling family gathering.
miCRo: “My Landlord and I” by Michael Hugh Stewart
In this darkly comic hybrid piece, Michael Hugh Stewart charts an escalating feud over eviction and erasure.
miCRo: “Remission” by Sara Dudo
An incantatory poem with rich images from the natural world and a deft hand with syntactical ambiguity.
miCRo: “The Game for Winners” by Kimberly Elkins
In this microessay, Kimberly Elkins explores the intoxication of a dangerous adolescent game and how it colors all that follows in the character’s life.
miCRo: “Checking on the Devil” by Alyson Mosquera Dutemple
Alyson Mosquera Dutemple’s story shows us what would cheer up the devil if he’s been a bit morose.
miCRo: “Take, Eat: For colored boys who stop inviting me to ‘fuck it up’ after my Milly Rock goes Vogue” by Marcus Donaldson
Marcus Donaldson’s poem is akin to the song that you stop everything to dance to when it comes on in the club.
miCRo: “On Saturn It Rains Diamonds” by Christine Kwon
This prose poem name-drops brands in a way that seems to extol consumer spending—until a final turn.
miCRo: “To All the Souls Who Can’t Yet Read” by Nadia Born
In this story told in the imperative second-person point of view, reading is literally ingesting words and images.
miCRo: “What’s on your mind, KB?” by KB Brookins
This poem from KB Brookins’s forthcoming collection bridges the genres of love poem and political poem.
miCRo: “The Uterus Belongs to the Family” by Stefanie Kirby
Stefanie Kirby’s extended exploration of the uterus complicates our sense of a part of the body often linked just to reproduction.
miCRo: “Mirror” by Claire Polders
The brief moment captured in “Mirror” reveals time in all its dimensions and reversals.
miCRo: from “There Is News along the Ohio River” by Beth Gilstrap
Two entries from Beth Gilstrap’s series “There Is News along the Ohio River” balance survival and awe.
