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At long last,
we have solved
the mind-body problem.

My child has a new face
Something came out of her
along with the sputtering stench
of an expiring form
pulled from a car in a
weed-filled lake.
It transformed before my eyes,
distilled into hers.

I am selfish,
all philosophers are.
Her body matches mine.

On days she speaks to me,
we sit in the sun looking at
old photos; other days, she is haunted
by grime and green water and
the remnants of a universal conflict.
The engineers tell me this is normal.

How many times can we be reborn?
How many humanities till we
plunge ourselves into darkness,
fed up, pelting our consciousness
into the graves of time?

I made the decision for her.
She takes her first steps in
a hospital overlooking a silver ocean,
is fascinated by how her
new hair defies gravity,
the flatness of her feet
I fear all of her is not here.

I think she comes to me in dreams
not angry, but asking why
I could not let her go,
why her mortality was not enough
if I know what forever means



Terese Mason Pierre is a Toronto-based writer whose work has appeared in Fantasy, The Walrus, FIYAH, and elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for the Elgin Award, the bpNichol Chapbook Award, the Pushcart Prize, and others. She is the co-editor in chief of Augur Magazine and the author of chapbooks “Surface Area” and “Manifest.” Visit her website at www.teresemasonpierre.com.
Current Issue
25 Sep 2023

People who live in glass houses are surrounded by dirt birds
After a century, the first colony / of bluebirds flew out of my mouth.
Over and over the virulent water / beat my flame down to ash
In this episode of  Critical Friends , the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, Aisha and Dan talk to critic and poet Catherine Rockwood about how reviewing and criticism feed into creative practice. Also, pirates.
Writing authentic stories may require you to make the same sacrifice. This is not a question of whether or not you are ready to write indigenous literature, but whether you are willing to do so. Whatever your decision, continue to be kind to indigenous writers. Do not ask us why we are not famous or complain about why we are not getting support for our work. There can only be one answer to that: people are too busy to care. At least you care, and that should be enough to keep my culture alive.
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