Size / / /

When he opened the door to his wrist,

it was less like something leaving him,

streaming out into the world,

than as if darkness,

growing thicker every moment,

were filling him.

The blackness rose to the top of his eyes,

entering his head like fuel preparing him

for a long, long trip.

He is now so far away from the hand

holding his exit

it’s as if a stranger had done the final work,

usurped his life at a moment’s notice.

He wants to ask,

“Why did you do this?”

“Please, put it all back.”

But the arm grows longer and longer

a road moving away from him

any glimmer of hope carried off

on the razor edge of a blade.


Duane Ackerson's most recent collection is The Bird at the End of the Universe. He has published several hundred poems, prose poems, and short stories in places that recently include Strange Horizons, Star*Line, Alba, Amaze, and Dreams and Nightmares. He lives in Salem, Oregon. Duane can be reached by email at: Ackerson@navicom.com. Please look for Duane's other work in our archives.



Duane Ackerson's poetry has appeared in Rolling Stone, Yankee, Prairie Schooner, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Cloudbank, alba, Starline, Dreams & Nightmares, and several hundred other places. He has won two Rhysling awards and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Salem, Oregon. You can find more of his work in our archives.
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'.
Wednesday: The Theme Park of Women’s Bodies by Maggie Cooper 
Friday: Your Own Dark Shadow: A Selection of Lost Irish Horror Stories edited by Jack Fennell 
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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