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who has a mother?

I say, all babies
but also: boards, ships, lodes, vinegar, sourdough

I say it lightly
trying to seem witty
but I can tell it upsets you as
I hear your silence transform
on the other side of the wall

who has a mother?
all babies
and even boards & ships & lodes
& vinegar
only you were not born of a mother
you say
you were not born of a mother
you were borne on the north wind
you sigh
that’s where you come from
a wind wizard made you out of a teardrop
then sent you away

I see, I say
well who is to say
that teardrop wasn’t your mother

I bet you look just like her

I bet you cry like her



Laura Theis grew up in a place in Germany where each street bears the name of a mythical creature. Her short stories, songs, radio plays, and poetry have been broadcast and published in the UK, Germany, and the U.S. Her new work appears in The London Reader, Manawaker Studio's Flash Fiction Podcast, About Place Journal, Rise Up Review, Enchanted Conversations, Briars Lit and in print anthologies from Live Canon, Curtis Bausse, Allitera, and Three Drops Press. Laura has gained a Distinction in the Mst Creative Writing at Oxford University (Keble College) and an MA in Theatre Studies, German and American Literature, from LMU Munich.

She is the recipient of the 2017 AM Heath Prize and the 2018 Short Story Prize by Curtis Bausse, and has been shortlisted for the 2018 Yeovil Prize for Poetry, the 2018 Live Canon International Poetry Award, and the 2018 Frome Festival Short Story Competition.

Visit her website, lauratheis.weebly.com, or listen to her sing about monsters, mermaids and powerful women on badasssnowwhite.bandcamp.com

Current Issue
29 May 2023

We are touched and encouraged to see an overwhelming response from writers from the Sino diaspora as well as BIPOC creators in various parts of the world. And such diverse and daring takes of wuxia and xianxia, from contemporary to the far reaches of space!
By: L Chan
The air was redolent with machine oil; rich and unctuous, and synthesised alcohol, sharper than a knife on the tongue.
“Leaping Crane don’t want me to tell you this,” Poppy continued, “but I’m the most dangerous thing in the West. We’ll get you to your brother safe before you know it.”
Many eons ago, when the first dawn broke over the newborn mortal world, the children of the Heavenly Realm assembled at the Golden Sky Palace.
Winter storm: lightning flashes old ghosts on my blade.
transplanted from your temple and missing the persimmons in bloom
immigrant daughters dodge sharp barbs thrown in ambush 十面埋伏 from all directions
Many trans and marginalised people in our world can do the exact same things that everyone else has done to overcome challenges and find happiness, only for others to come in and do what they want as Ren Woxing did, and probably, when asked why, they would simply say Xiang Wentian: to ask the heavens. And perhaps we the readers, who are told this story from Linghu Chong’s point of view, should do more to question the actions of people before blindly following along to cause harm.
Before the Occupation, righteousness might have meant taking overt stands against the distant invaders of their ancestral homelands through donating money, labour, or expertise to Chinese wartime efforts. Yet during the Occupation, such behaviour would get one killed or suspected of treason; one might find it better to remain discreet and fade into the background, or leave for safer shores. Could one uphold justice and righteousness quietly, subtly, and effectively within such a world of harshness and deprivation?
Issue 22 May 2023
Issue 15 May 2023
Issue 8 May 2023
Issue 1 May 2023
Issue 24 Apr 2023
Issue 17 Apr 2023
Issue 10 Apr 2023
Issue 3 Apr 2023
Issue 27 Mar 2023
Issue 20 Mar 2023
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