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My father was a sorrowful
    if well intentioned man

  with no luck
      and no rapport
  with the Universe

No philosopher he―
     his M.O. was fatalism
              and remorse
One day he asserted
    “Little Man”
—this he called me even as I looked
                  down to meet his eyes—
       “the Universe owes us nothing

                yet we are at its mercy”

This contra-diction burned in my nostrils
                  seared my ears
“Dear Father”
   I cried―looking straight into his eyes―
“I'll take Mercy
       over Debt
  every day”

SO

   in the name
       of Mercy

I wished a wish―which the Universe soon granted―

     and turned my father into

              A Sunflower

Nodding ever toward the Sun
   heavy head
         full of

Seeds of Wisdom

      and

    Petals of Wonder



After graduating from West Virginia University, Bob Walters has taught Literature, Writing, and Creative Writing in Asheville, North Carolina, where life and beer are wonderful. He also plays drums, writes fiction and poetry, and paints in acrylics to calm a restless spirit. He is married to his favorite person, and they have three large sons.
Current Issue
14 Apr 2025

back-legg-ed, puppy shaped and squirmy
the pastor is a woman / with small birds living in the hollows of her eyes.
Strange Horizons
On June 4th, we will be opening for speculative fiction novelette submissions between the word count of 10,000 and 18,000 words. We will cap submissions at 300.
Strange Horizons
On November 3rd, we will be opening for speculative fiction stories written by Indigenous authors. We will be capping submissions at 500.
The formula for how to end the world got published the same day I married the girl who used to bully me in middle school. We found out about it the morning after, on the first day of our honeymoon in Cozumel. I got out of the shower in our small bungalow and Minju was sitting in bed, staring at her laptop.
In this episode of Strange Horizons at 25, editor Kat Kourbeti talks to Charlie Jane Anders about her Strange Horizons publications dating all the way back to 2002, charting her journey as a writer and her experience with the magazine over 20 years, as well as her love for community events and bringing people together.
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Issue 10 Feb 2025
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Issue 27 Jan 2025
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