Size / / /

(Charm #9 from Practical Thaumaturgy)

Your back's the color of the fields

Dried out for winter; or soft bark,

Or trampled snow, bright fish, straw, clay,

Slate, stone, a wild hill in the dark.

Your eye is yellow as the moon

At the horizon; gray as foam,

Or green or copper as some cold

Woodland where silent hunters roam.

I see I fill you with contempt.

I cannot prove your feeling wrong.

But understand, at least, that I,

Like you, am not where I belong.




Susannah Mandel has lived for ten years in Boston, two years in France, and several months in Philadelphia. She hopes never to move back to the suburbs. Her favorite hobbies include stories, sunlight, looking at stuff, and going into detail. Please feel free to tell her interesting things.
Current Issue
1 Dec 2025

I watch the salmon and the dog dance together, alive and dead and still kicking, kicking, kicking.
“My eyes are up here,” the centaur said. / We were negotiating / the terms of our trip to Canterbury
the way a human girl moves after smoking two bowls, all syrup and swirl of smoke.
For your consideration: a complete list of Strange Horizons works and staff eligible for various awards in 2026. Happy reading and listening!
Dan Hartland is joined by Cameron Miguel and Nick Hubble to discuss fantasy and its relationship to history and history-writing.
Issue 24 Nov 2025
Issue 17 Nov 2025
Issue 10 Nov 2025
By: B. Pladek
Podcast read by: Arden Fitzroy
Issue 3 Nov 2025
Issue 20 Oct 2025
By: miriam
Issue 13 Oct 2025
By: Diana Dima
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 6 Oct 2025
Strange Horizons
Issue 29 Sep 2025
Issue 22 Sep 2025
Issue 15 Sep 2025
Load More