darcie friesen hossack

The Ties That Bind. a poem by Mary Alice Williams

The Ties That Bind I am of fieldstone walls, thundering seas. I am of salt air, of sand squeaking in summer heat, of snow squeaking in winter cold. I am of Tammany Hall and the chicken it put in my childhood pot. I am of urban grit, its attendant grind. I am of unskilled labor,Continue reading “The Ties That Bind. a poem by Mary Alice Williams”

2 poems by Yahia Lababidi

What is the Desert? It’s forgetfulness of trivia and noise: the city or ego Remembrance of essences: silence stillness and G_d. It’s the stormy story of the sea recollected in tranquility death and birth and death and transformation— a gift granted only to the patient who surrender. Lockjaw Strange aches in quarantine for our phantomContinue reading “2 poems by Yahia Lababidi”

3 poems by Jake Sheff

Elegy for Goldfish II: A Failed Acrostic “…[M]ost errors consist only in our not rightly applying names to things.” Baruch Spinoza, The Ethics Stillness swam so uninformed! Obviously uniformed, Limit-touching creatures loved you. Oafish me; love’s interstate Mastered loss. The interest rate Operated on what loved you Nearly as long as the strife- Stricken strivingContinue reading “3 poems by Jake Sheff”

Poetic Prose from Dialyzing. by Charline Lambert. translated by John Taylor

Poetic Prose from Dialyzing That woman, having sunk into what, from now on, is no longer her: a desire will deliver her into the world, through her membranes. Her birth will always be an injunction, a bleeding. An oedema on the sea. By way of illustration, this is how desire overwhelms her. ItContinue reading “Poetic Prose from Dialyzing. by Charline Lambert. translated by John Taylor”

3 poems by Duane Anderson

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. After years of living on earth, searching for that next great enterprise, I gave up trying, deciding to wait my time until I entered the next phase of existence, whether it was Heaven or Hell, one of the last two opportunities in my next life, thenContinue reading “3 poems by Duane Anderson”

3 poems by John Reed

Ribbon I’ve seen it, unexpectedly enough, a few times, as I’ve hurried through my day, hushed and losing things, everything really, that I’ve ever cherished, wanted to keep. Have you, from the window of your Uber, ever caught a glimpse of the foil paper, the need-me crimson ribbon with the ruffled bow? I don’t goContinue reading “3 poems by John Reed”

Silent Bleat. fiction by Mehreen Ahmed

Silent Bleat The sheep floated on the blue, etched on the cloud’s sphere. In the short time that I wrote my story in the sky, they had reshaped into vapour, then pelted down. The rain fell over a garbage dump of a used plastic pond. Children of the narrow alley played in the rain asContinue reading “Silent Bleat. fiction by Mehreen Ahmed”

6 poems by Susmit Panda

The Defendant Say what you will. Swear by the lifted book. Slowly lift up your gentle face and look. There shall be no safe questions. I sit to trace Your life beyond the confines of the case. When all is said and done, there must remain Among the detritus of slipshod rain, Between the callousContinue reading “6 poems by Susmit Panda”

Call for mss. Women’s Voices, Women’s Stories.

For September 2022, WordCity Literary Journal is seeking works on women’s issues and stories, including but not limited to reproductive and other rights related to the experience of being women and girls. WCLJ is inclusive, and we welcome writing and art from trans-women for this issue (because trans-women are women). On the subject of reproductiveContinue reading “Call for mss. Women’s Voices, Women’s Stories.”

Call for Mss

For our July issue of WordCity Literary Journal, we’re both leaving the theme open and also seeking threads on networks. These can be all kinds—social, neural, aesthetic, web-related etc. Please visit our Submissions page, but note that we’re going to accept pieces all the way until the end of June, and perhaps later upon requestContinue reading “Call for Mss”