Size / / /

Content warning:


You on your first lungs?
The original, some parts still tinted pink
The rest green and clogged

It would be so easy, she thinks
To ask for a replacement
Human, maybe, slipped in underneath her breasts
Or better yet, something mechanical
Rising and falling on a machine’s time
The anti-rejection meds wouldn’t be so bad
Compared to all this

They would put them in
Sleek and carbon fiber, nanotubes and filtering intact
Now you are whole they would say
Now your life belongs to us

Outside the city would be neon. On her right breast
A pulse would beat
Charged, semi-charged, seek a power source immediately.

More human than human?
Maybe. The fantasy of cyborgs and androids so real.
Would it be worth it, to breathe deeply again?

You on your first lungs?
Yes, but I won’t be for long.



Elizabeth Kestrel Rogers is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh with an MSc in Creative Writing. She now lives in California, dreaming of becoming a cyborg. She can be found on Twitter @KestrelUnicorn.
Current Issue
4 Nov 2024

Djinndroid 
Outsiders, Off-worlders {how quickly one carves out a corner of the cosmos, / claims a singular celestial body as [o u r s] in the scope of infinity}
Departure: New Selene Station 21:56 
Lunar enby folks across here
The 2024 Ignyte Award for Best Novel Shortlist, Part One 
The 2024 Ignyte finalists for Best Novel collectively exemplify the “vibrancy and diversity” that the awards seek to celebrate.
The 2024 Ignyte Award for Best Novel Shortlist, Part Two 
The books shortlisted for the 2024 Ignyte Best Novel Award emphasise the role of co-operative action in addressing the problems faced by their characters—and their readers.
The Butcher’s Heart 
“Did you know,” the witch says, “that a witch has no heart of her own?”
Friday: A Place Between Waking and Forgetting by Eugen Bacon 
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
Issue 2 Sep 2024
Issue 26 Aug 2024
Load More