Size / / /

They pass a dwarf star around like a bottle of rum

from hand to hand. Each one taking a mouthful

gurgles then laughs out loud in their liquor-breaths.

Skinhead pulsars, ringing their body piercing,

practice planetary marshal arts—

ma mekom saranam,

ma mekom saranam.

Half-empty, half-full, the dwarf is seduced

by the spell of their foul mouths.

Their unwrapped breasts flare in the gaseous light.

Copper shackles dazzle from their unzipped nebulas.

Steel knives flash like supernovae.

Finished, they toss him away like a used-up blackbody.

Inside their ill-lit skulls, a dwarf star is




Sankar's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in over eighty journals and anthologies. Tebot Bach in California is publishing his first book of poetry, Moon Country, in 2009. He has also authored three poetry chapbooks and edited an anthology.
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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