Issue of February 23, 2026

Desert Rain: a review of <i>Shaking Music from the Angry Air</i> by Michael Dwayne Smith. by Peter Mladinic — Book review

Peter Mladinic reviews Michael Dwayne Smith's book of poetry, "Shaking Music from the Angry Air."

Balance the Books by Mary Jo Rabe — Cover story fiction

There's a payment owed for what you have received...

Bald by Jerry A. Sierra — Fiction

Writers travel down strange paths at times, to be sure.

A Trail of Loot and Soot by Ndaba Sibanda — Poem

"...Can crude chaos be noblest?..."

And My Hollow Eyes Closed by Dan Holt — Poem unrhymed

"...trying to find their way..."

Finally Seeing the Light by Taylor Dibbert — Poem unrhymed

"...who he's become..."

Liminal by Stephen Kingsnorth — Poem unrhymed

"...soliloquy as commentary..."

Number Twenty-Two by Jim Bates — Poem unrhymed

"...He was many things..."

Returning Home to Pittsburgh by James Croal Jackson — Poem unrhymed

"...returned to the elms and eastern hemlocks..."

Rumble in the Jungle by Scott Waters — Poem unrhymed

Scott Waters is a poet and singer-songwriter living in Oakland, California. He graduated with a Master's Degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

Stuck with March by Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal — Poem unrhymed

"If only it was July..."

Sui Generis by Sean MacKendrick — Speculative fiction

As the world changes, populations move. How will they be met?