Size / / /

Content warning:


I stay home and watch fireworks on the Fourth of July

my son thinks they're shooting stars

they race over our deck celebrating the accuracy of our drones

they celebrate the red glare of rockets landing in puddles of

families huddled around their breakfast tea and zaatared bread

starbursting rockets explode simple dreams of music and dance

pieces of flesh and hair and secret imaginings of romance and jasmine in the garden

all fly together into interstellar air

the fireworks’ ashes rain down into our sweet, iced tea

we consume the bitter dream particles and digest them into a lesser form



Layla Azmi Goushey is an English professor in St. Louis, Missouri. Her poetry, prose, and non- fiction have been published in several literary journals and anthologies such as the St. Louis Anthology and Beyond Memory: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Creative Nonfiction.
Current Issue
18 Nov 2024

Your distress signals are understood
Somehow we’re now Harold Lloyd/Jackie Chan, letting go of the minute hand
It was always a beautiful day on April 22, 1952.
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Little Lila by Susannah Rand, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
Issue 11 Nov 2024
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
Load More