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The hour came
when time was repealed.

We threw a switch, and
the eye of God
became lidless.

We thought we would see,
really see at last.

We skipped over years
like stones
in all directions.

We took in the slow yawn
of life
in great, snatching gasps.

We no longer saw progress
as we had once seen it;
straight lines became
great, arcing spirals
swimming, diving
in ever evolving
complexity.

And yet—

we always arrived
in the same place
that we started.

So remember,
the hour will come
when time will be repealed.

When we throw the switch,

I need you
to understand—

when I choose to love you,
it is not in the flush
of one moment
but all of them,

feeding back into
themselves
in endless, looping promise,

until it is as certain
as the flowing script
of everything. See,

really see

that you are loved
and will be, and were

from the instant
we met—

when the sky
rolled back like a scroll
to kiss your sweet
eternal eyelids.



Duke Kimball likes to wear hats.  He has been a mediocre scholar of religion, a Hawaiian shirt enthusiast, and a sleazy used car salesman.  He currently sells spare parts for X-Ray machines and drinks altogether too much coffee.  Duke and his wife Michelle live in Lansing, MI.  He keeps a website at dukekimball.com.
Current Issue
16 Dec 2024

Across the train tracks from BWI station, a portal shimmered in the shade of a patch of tall trees. From her seat on a northbound train taking on passengers, Dottie watched a woman slip a note out of her pocket, place it under a rock, strip off her work uniform, then walk naked, smiling, into the portal.
exposing to the bone just how different we are
a body protesting thinks itself as a door out of a darkroom, a bullet, too.
In this episode of SH@25, Editor Kat Kourbeti sits down with Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li to discuss her foray into poetry, screenwriting, music composition and more, and also presents a reading of her two poems published in 2022, 'Ave Maria' and 'The Mezzanine'.
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
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
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