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i have long cast a shadow over grief
allowed you to shatter boughs
allowed your wails and blows
to bore into the trunk of me
& hollow out a home

each spring
the sparrows nest and sing
& you climb

reaching for tender branches
while the sparrows take flight
their fluttering wings mimicking the
harrowing of my heart

& each fall
your nails rat-a-tat
against my skin
carving lost names here & there
& there



Jordan Kurella is a trans and disabled author who has lived all over the world (including Moscow and Manhattan). In his past lives, he was a photographer, radio DJ, and social worker. He can be found on Twitter @kurellian, or at JordanKurella.com. His forthcoming novella, I Never Liked You Anyway, is due out in the fall from Vernacular Books.
Current Issue
17 Mar 2025

Strange Horizons will have three open fiction submissions throughout 2025.
In this whole ocean, not a single reply.
We are men making machines, making men.
The customer shakes me until his disc drops into the bin below. Please take your receipt, sir. He kicks me in the side and says, “Thanks for nothing, you piece of shit vending machine!”
In this episode of Strange Horizons at 25, we present a soundscaped reading of the poem, 'this tree is a eulogy', and afterward Kat Kourbeti chats to the author Jordan Kurella about his writing process, the wonders of New Weird fiction, and the magic of writer friendships.
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Issue 23 Dec 2024
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