Poetry Issue #16: What If? April 30, 2025 Three Poems by Joe Cottonwood Biopsy While sedated on gurney I forget to breathe. Nurse (tiny woman) shouts, “Breathe, dammit!” so I do. I pay attention to women. Another nurse (burly, male) apologizes for shaving my chest hair. I understand men. A voice from somewhere asks me to choose music for the room—Beethoven or Mozart? I say, “Bluegrass.” Voice asks, “Huh?” Dosed with fentanyl, mind detached, I follow my body into an extraction factory— fingers, scalpels, giant needles, a sharp and delicate ballet to ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #16: What If? April 30, 2025 Three Poems by Kristin Camitta Zimet if IF I stay awake if I am loyal enough clever enough You will not die If I ask the best questions If I praise the nurse appease the nurse fire the nurse If I second-guess the doctor If I push the doctor hard outside the protocol the box the casket make the doctor notice who you are why you are irreplaceable IF I am lovable enough beautiful enough worth staying for You will hang on If I am seductive selfless reassuring selfish harsh ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #16: What If? April 30, 2024 If I Could Do It All Over Again by Judith Shapiro If I Could Do It All Over Again what if I had gone north instead of south; stood up tall instead of hunched; parted my hair in the middle instead of left; gone skydiving; learned to play the violin, speak Russian what if I’d stayed put; hadn’t insisted on change, big change, exciting change; sold everything; packed up ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #16: What If? April 30, 2025 My Daughter's Celebratory Private Plane Ride by Francey Grossman My Daughter's Celebratory Private Plane Ride what if she had failed chemistry then no celebration what if the weather had shut down her flight what if her fiancée had not been available to join her what if the pilot had more experience what if the pilot had not chosen to play stop and go what if she had waited for a different pilot what if ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #16: What If? April 30, 2025 Three Poems by Lou Ventura First Week Home I am trying to believe what I’ve been told, but I see the jagged, angry zipper of stitches running down the left side of your head – not the half-moon shape they promised, and I see your eyes, emptied by fear and pharmaceuticals, while your smile pleads with me and the girls to be reassured, but I know you too well – I know your unrelenting desire to consume everything life ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #16: What If? April 30, 2025 Two Poems by Shakira Croce What to Expect The ache waned, yet there should be something to show for the remains, drawn out into plastic tubes and rolled on loose metal down linoleum for more testing to add to the bill before the incinerator. The word “lucky” was never used, but so many turned and said “it was good, you...” After all, the procedures were only minimally invasive, leaving a perfectly empty space. I should have noted the warning signs: visions ...
Read MoreArt Issue #16: What If? April 30th, 2025 Artist’s Statement by R.C. Barajas Sarah Sideways 3 by R.C. Barajas Sarah Sideways 3 is part of an ongoing series called “Composite”. With these images I explore the moments in time that shape us. From one instant to the next, we move, breathe, form new thoughts, change perspective and orientation. Each iteration of ourselves could be thought of as a living collage existing in that moment. We are, ...
Read MoreIssue #16 What If? April 30th, 2025 Table of Contents Letter from the Editor, Tracy Granzyk: Making It Count Sarah Sideways 3 by R.C. Barajas - Artist's Statement Unreliable Witness | Monica Edwards Break the Disease | Nancy Gilbert What If We're Beautifully Wired Just the Way We Are? | Sara E. Golden The Hand of Nature | Sofia Mamakos I Left My Wife on Valentine's Day | Zoran Naumovski Dear Driver | Kalani Padilla Terminators | Angela Townsend For the Clouds I Do Not ...
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