Current Issue 2026

Sunset is my favorite part of every day,

as it is followed by the darkness.

The night was my safe space;

as street lights ignited, I would roam around

like a stray cat in the night.

I would run on brick walls and smell the cold breeze

hiding in the shadows of people’s houses.

It was my escape from the day.

The imperfect spiderwebs hung on leaves,

and rotting fruit as ants crawled oversplattered remains.

The sound of crickets chirped from tall overgrown grass

lit homes filled with tired people with tired lives.

I felt at home with the view of a bright moon

overhead watching me like we just met.

As big to light up the sky,

making friendly gestures to the stars that appeared soon after

the dirt was blue like the sea, 

and the broken fences were wet from the dew of fog.

Clouds swarmed me with hugs of breath,

dandelion petals filled the air with pollen,

making possums sneeze in backyard sheds

until the sky became muted

and the flowers started to rise as the moon fell,

bringing the sunrise of oranges, red, and violet,

warmth coming back to ice cold, car windows

while creatures spread out into open roads

now-vacant with car horns and jogging people.

The noise gradually filled my ears after birds chirped

and a rooster crowed into the morning once again.