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I dreamed buildings were exploding
all over the old city,
a powerful djinn had gotten loose,
or there might’ve been an alien invasion,
something about underground dogs
turning the tide,
and us cowering in cavernous burrows,
Mark denied that canids were fossorial,
you misunderstood,
so someone explained polysyllabically,
something was chasing us,
we were getting away,
so I knew it wasn’t a dream,
then I woke up,
home in bed with you,
your body rising with each slow breath,
huge things rimmed with colored lights
were settling out of the sky,
dogs were howling,
I pinched myself,
it hurt.



David C. Kopaska-Merkel won the 2006 Rhysling Award for a collaboration with Kendall Evans, edits Dreams & Nightmares magazine, and has edited Star*Line and several Rhysling anthologies. His poems have appeared in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and elsewhere. A collection, Some Disassembly Required, winner of the 2023 Elgin Award, is available from him at jopnquog@gmail.com.
Current Issue
23 Dec 2024

what harm was there / in lingering a little?
even with a diary there’s the moment where one needs to open it (carefully flip the pages)
In this special episode of SH@25, editor Kat Kourbeti narrates 'Little Brother™' by Bruce Holland Rogers, originally published on 30 October 2000.
Issue 16 Dec 2024
Issue 9 Dec 2024
Issue 2 Dec 2024
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
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
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