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we are titans
surviving
while black
is our superpower
we lift broken down
cars
over our heads
and that’s
just a tuesday
we leap
tall buildings
on a single
paycheck
because the universe
gives us
no choice
but the only
glory
is making it
through another day
without dying
or committing homicide
because we’ve run
out of patience
with a world
that has
its foot
on our necks

we are metahumans
without
the colorful spandex
because the drip
is real
and we clean
like that
though
our kryptonite
is hypertension
induced
by a world
that roots
for the supervillain
instead of us
and ain’t that
a bitch
but
we fly around
the city
anyway
because our people
need us

we’re titans
in an age
of villains
and no one
sings our theme song
even though
it’s dope



Gerald L. Coleman is a philosopher, theologian, poet, Science Fiction & Fantasy author, and has a Master’s degree in Theology. He’s served as a Scholastic National Writing Juror, is a co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets, is a Rhysling and Locust Award Nominee, and is a Fellow at the Black Earth Institute. You can find him at GeraldColeman.com.
Current Issue
24 Mar 2025

The winner is the one with the most living wasps
Every insect was a chalk outline of agony / defined, evaluated, ranked / by how much it hurt
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Reprise by Samantha Lane Murphy, read by Emmie Christie. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
Monster of the Week as Realism 
Black speculative poetry works this way too. It’s text that is flexible and immediate. It’s a safe space to explore Afrocentric text rooted in story, song, dance, rhythm that natural flows from my intrinsic self. It’s text that has a lot of hurt, as in pain, and a lot of healing—an acceptance of self, black is beauty, despite what the slave trade, colonialism, racism, social injustice might tell us.
Friday: Adam and Eve in Paradise by José Maria de Eça de Queirós, translated by Margaret Jull Costa 
Issue 17 Mar 2025
Issue 10 Mar 2025
By: Holli Mintzer
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 3 Mar 2025
Issue 24 Feb 2025
Issue 17 Feb 2025
Issue 10 Feb 2025
By: Alexandra Munck
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 27 Jan 2025
By: River
Issue 20 Jan 2025
Strange Horizons
By: Michelle Kulwicki
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 13 Jan 2025
Issue 6 Jan 2025
By: Samantha Murray
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
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