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The truth of it pools in my mouth,
soft wet pulp: I am not enough.
It is a lacking well-worn, kneaded
into folds of failing flesh.
Talent skipped a note in me, played
the makings of a masterpiece off-key.
Delusions of grandeur, diluted over time,
misshapen by rhyme—I am a wreck—
I am inferior—I am failure—failure—
faithless—burn these walls to the ground.

Here, scrawled in the ashes of who
I might have been—could have been—
was never going to be, goddamn it—

I am not enough. We sit shiva for those
we’ve lost. So say a prayer and sit for me.



Emily Ruth Verona is the author of the novel Midnight on Beacon Street, published by Harper Perennial in 2024. She is a Pinch Literary Award winner, a Bram Stoker Awards® nominee, and a Rhysling Award Finalist, with work featured in magazines and anthologies that include Under Her EyeUnder Her SkinMystery TribuneThe GhastlingCoffin BellRust & MothThe Jewish Book of Horror, and Nightmare Magazine. She lives in New Jersey with a small dog. For more visit www.emilyruthverona.com.
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10 Feb 2025

The editors for the AfroSurrealism Special invite you to submit fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
he curls his bicep into ever more and more and more bicep
Hush. He sees through / the static. Softly. It sees him back.
“Please also be reminded of the following prohibited items,” the clerk explains kindly. “No chemicals or toxic substances. No fluids over 1,000 milliliters. No lithium batteries, laptop chargers and power banks, no love, no light, no family, no safety.”
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Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Sandrine by Alexandra Munck, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
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