Size / / /

This poem is part of our 2015 fund drive bonus issue! Read more about Strange Horizons' funding model, or donate, here.


they don’t tell you
the circle of mushrooms may as well
be inevitable

seasons will choke,
leaving husks dense
with regret

they don’t tell you
to save yourself: you must be willing
to succumb to the pull

drowning is not so easy
as gulping water
or falling

listen

it does not matter where you step:
outcomes are different
than conclusions

your surrender:
affirmation
recourse

and perhaps when your lungs flood
with regret
and the surge of air wrests away
your pauses

you will be redeemed:

infinite circles
never unravel




Sasha Kim is currently a junior at Ringling College, studying illustration. When not wrestling with art, she drinks too much tea, reads, and can sometimes be coaxed into writing as well. This is her first published poem.
Current Issue
9 Jun 2025

two bad omens are a good omen, but any three omens are a bad omen, because too many omens are a bad omen.
Will we unite and work together?
Issue 8 Jun 2025
Do Ghosts Have Department Stores? 
In the Year of the Wedding 
A Mermaid Falls in Love with Icarus 
The Ache of Hollow Places 
Wednesday: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar 
Issue 2 Jun 2025
By: R.B. Lemberg
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 26 May 2025
Issue 19 May 2025
By: Elle Engel
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 12 May 2025
Issue 5 May 2025
Issue 21 Apr 2025
By: Premee Mohamed
Podcast read by: Kat Kourbeti
Issue 14 Apr 2025
Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons
Issue 7 Apr 2025
By: Lowry Poletti
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 31 Mar 2025
Load More