Art: "And I ride and I ride" by Lisa Gostev

Poetry: "to be rollickin randy dandy o" by Jillian A. Fantin

when he was six,

i pushed my brother

off his playship

to see

how boys

would fall

 

 

a way hay roll an’

go the fops and manta rays.

 

when the john b sloops

over maritime menisci,

 

when the way hay

baubles plastic

 

i roll an’ sing

as a joyous voyeurger

of a sailor’s prerogative.

let me go a’bollocking

in a randy mass

of Caligula conchered shells,

those sea stars shining

like stars

 

 

six is my brother’s

favourite number—

when he counts

in binary, his hands

look at me

like a v-sign.

 

Published July 17th 2023

Jillian A. Fantin (they/them) is a poet with roots in the American South and north central England. They co-founded and edit RENESME LITERARY, a shortform Twilight inspired online arts journal. Currently, Jillian serves as an editorial intern for Sundress Publications and collects clown memorabilia.

Lisa Gostev was born in Kiev, Ukraine. She studied at Carver Center for Arts and Technology and received a BFA in Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art and MFA in Painting at Indiana University. Recent selected exhibition venues include Dane ledet Gallery, LA; Carver Center Gallery, MD; The Cade Gallery, MD; The Bowery Gallery, NY; Fraser Gallery, MD; SOFA Gallery, IN. Her awards include the Young Artist Award; Bethesda Painting Awards, MIEA study abroad grant of Baltimore Community Foundation to study at the Studio Arts Center International, Florence, Italy (2006). Currently she is the Assistant Professor of Art at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.