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X.After a century, the first colony
of bluebirds flew out of my mouth.

IX.This morning, when I said my name
before the mirror, a sunflower broke

out of it. VIII. I have witnessed too many
crashing within this body, and I wonder

if I’ll one day develop immunity against
this violence. VII. The CT scan reveals

flowers sprouting from the base of my
ventricles. Perhaps this would account

for the nectar on my tongue. VI. In this
transterrestrial habitat, the wind runs

across my skin, brewing a kind of music
—forlorn, yet tender. V. The sun’s ray falls

on my cracked flesh & I transmute into
an hologram of grace. IV.Gravity becomes

fluid & the sky only rains crystalflake.
III. Buried within my chest are strands of

synthesized miracles. II. Most times what
molds us can also catalyze our decay. Even

the genesis of a scar can be a lovely kiss.
I. If I ever go missing, search for me among

the congregation of bluebirds; at the wake
of dusk when they retire into their nest.



Joshua Effiong, Frontier VI, is a writer and digital artist from the Örö people of Nigeria. Author of a poetry chapbook, Autopsy of Things Left Unnamed (2020). His works have been published or are forthcoming in 580 split, Wrongdoing Magazine, Vast Literary Press, Native Skin and elsewhere. He tweets @JoshEffiong.
Current Issue
11 Nov 2024

Their hair permed, nails scarlet, knees slim, lashes darkly tinted.
green spores carried on green light, sleeping gentle over steel bones
The rest of the issue is on its way. We think.
In the 4th episode of SH@25, Editor Kat Kourbeti sits down with tabletop game designer and SFF critic Kyle Tam, whose young career has taken off in the last few years. Read on for an insightful interview about narrative storytelling from non-Western perspectives, the importance of schlock and trash in the development of taste, and the windows into creativity we find in moments of hardship.
After the disaster—after the litigation, the endless testimony, the needling comments of the defendant’s counsel—there is at last a settlement, with no party admitting error, and the state recognizing no victim, least of all yourself. Although the money cannot mend any of the overturned things left behind, it can pay for college, so that’s where you go next.
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 30 Sep 2024
Issue 23 Sep 2024
By: LeeAnn Perry
Art by: nino
Issue 16 Sep 2024
Issue 9 Sep 2024
Issue 2 Sep 2024
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