the tears on her cheeks are from laughter


Sarah Wilmer, My Brother Max


The New Math
-- by Klipschutz

I never understood the New Math,
and to be honest, I’m still not certain
what it even is (or has it been replaced
by a New to the Second Power Math),
though I’ve always liked the phrase
"cooking the books." There’s
a cartoon in there somewhere,
an author at the stove, wearing mitts,
with a casserole made out of…

Hillary is smarter than me.
She understands both concepts,
inside out, upside down and backwards,
but when her people sit the rules committee down
to explain, they will be explaining
to people like me, who only know
that two plus two is four,
and who will shake their hands
and show them to the door.


Moments
- by Pam Brown

every grief
can be traced
in the wind
shaking
the gingko trees
in the square.

this city
has a
regressive effect,
my handwriting
begins to resemble
art nouveau.

sometimes
in late afternoon
the only thing
that’s moving here
is time.


Another Good Sign
-- by Melanie Hubbard

One day your boss
will write an opera. Meanwhile,
les trés riches heures file by—
they give each other

head in the break room, tousle
the fine, sandy-colored hay

they never comb. Welcome home.
At least they’re having fun

in the end zone. The victorious
hours butt heads, their backs against

the louvered closet doors, which cant
off their hinges.