her kisses
fall soft,
electric lips
brush mine.

[it was in the night when i saw her, leading edges held close by lightning
and lycra (but this was the first night i saw her), eyes i fell into,
something out of amaranthine dreams, out of the scent of the lotus-flowers;
as we slept,]

water sounds
rush over,
my pulse
dashes on.

[i pointed out Orion's belt, the jeweled sword, and the hunting dogs on the
back balcony while she mentioned her knowing pain and the lust for oblivion
(which we both fell into), something out of timeless cries, satin voices
taunting as we parted,]

wait now.
dancing floors
sway dizzily,
i fall.

[she asked me to stay, she was veiled and a mystery, built from thoughts
resembling bone, she pulls me to her side, speaking soft the words of a
song, something out of saccharine lies, murmured with pale hope, and weary
faith which was] 

slipping down
through floors
and ceilings,
back here.

[exhilaration like nothing i've known, a plastic stress built from
unstructured sentences and the light fixture which stayed humming between
us, moaning out brown light, but this was something out of my mundane dreams.] 

lips part.
slip down
timid walls
like death.

Table of Contents

Melissa Hill

* Mystery
* Two Weeks: Parts 5 and 6

Gerard Wozek

* A Time When Hunted Things Are Safe
* The Imp

Michael Billard

* Untitled
* Slipping Past
* On Hearing the Military...

Alex Pilling

* Shifting Dimensions
* Sacred Duty

Liz Haight

* Rockwell Dinner Grace
* Autumn Letter

Chuck deVarennes

* Sunday School Lessons

Mike Barney

* Singing the Silence
* Reply to the Unctious Vegan

Perry Sams

* Bongo Coast

Joe Kenny

* Under Load

Dancing Bear

* The Memories Hide

Ray Heinrich

* becoming a writer

Karen Wurl

* Third World Weekend
* Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred...
* The Existence of Angels

Robin Sommo

* Perfume

Timothy Clark

* Kisses

Scott Murphy

* Stalin, Dying
* Interrogation
* Slide

Fanny-Min Becker

* going

Caron Andregg

* The Theorems of Desire
* The Late Shift
* It's been ten years

Perry Thompson

* Droppin' Acid with the Devil
* Were the Children Also Wicked

Michael Hoerman

* Eight Hour Pass

William Burns

* The Wire Hydra...
* Davida and the Mental Giant

Joy Reid

* Cape Conran
* My Claim

Philip Havey

* Blaise Cendrars

Ben Ohmart

* Lace Colored Dandies

Stephen Pain

* We could walk...
* Really

Dave Sloan

* The Weight
* Dead Monkey Grows Cooler