Art: "Poolside" by Sean Gallagher
Poetry: "The Suicide Summer" by M.J. Stratton
I’m no vet, but spine snapping
is the softest sound in the world
I know intimately
the feeling of brokenness
it starts with a bird
falling from the tallest tree
in my brother’s yard
switch the lights out
and I can feel my way
towards the only sharp edge
in the room
this is all to say its wings were fine—
light and whole and thin
as unpasteurized milk
in the family bucket
I buried the thing in the flower box
of my bedroom’s sill
there haven’t been flowers for years
but I’m not much of a planter
I can’t even find my way
to my own coffin
it’s in the air now!
that shoebox! that wooden
flower jacket! that brother bird!
and this makes me smile!
like maybe I’ve stopped
something
it started
and it didn’t end
and this bird never even touched
the ground
Published May 16th 2024
How would one characterize M.J. Stratton? Twenty-seven. Disturbingly pale. Critically awkward. A poet published in various literary magazines such as Oscilloscope Literary Magazine, Storm of Blue Press, Unpublished Magazine, and DeadMall Press. And human. So irreversibly human that she feels everything as deeply as you do—fiercely. Emphatically. She just writes it down.
Sean Gallagher is an artist living in Charleston, South Carolina. He’s art recently won the North Charleston Art Fest and he will be featured in Charleston Magazine as one of the best emerging artists in the lowcountry. His artwork has also been published in Fauxmoir, Allegory Ridge, High Shelf Press, and Ariel’s Dream, to name a few. He has been a journalist and editor, working in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, in a past life. You can follow his work on Instagram @the_ridden_word or his website, skgcreative.com.