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Carousel. Thirty years ago—
the caramel pony, her flowers, the flight.
Now she’s here running
again amongst horses
black and white, harnessed with light.

There’s a black bull. The pig and the goat
are marking time, flat-eyed watchers.
The Little Prince’s plane is trying
to take off and the Nautilus circles.
They know the cliff is getting closer.

I kicked the pony but night still came.
The Bock is floodlit. Down to Ville Basse
the spies are driving driving
and the carousel is racing. When’s the jump,
when do I jump, I ask?

Luxembourg, December 2014



Clarissa Aykroyd grew up in Victoria, Canada and now lives in London, England. Her work has appeared in journals and publications including And Other Poems, Ink Sweat & Tears, The Island Review, The Level Crossing, Lighthouse, The Missing Slate, The Ofi Press, and Shot Glass Journal. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and is the author of a blog about poetry and poets, The Stone and the Star.
Current Issue
7 Sep 2026

Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons will open to general fiction submissions on October 1, 2026, at 3 p.m. UTC! This window will remain open until we hit our submission cap of 1,000 stories. Our maximum word count for this window will be 5,000 words. We offer payment of 9¢/word USD. We do not read simultaneous or multiple submissions. Response time: Our goal is to respond to all submissions with either a hold notice or rejection within eight weeks. We hope to send acceptances or rejections within one month of hold notices. This is ambitious, and we might fall behind schedule. Please be patient
iii. There are no protocols for plotting to kill the King, so Alise talks about killing the King, whispers her plan in the Queen’s ear while they lie tangled in the Queen’s marital bed, Alise’s fingers tracing bruises that should not be there.
missed his mouth; tongue slipped in
but to live in that dusty old apartment house... crawling with Satanists
In this episode of Critical Friends , the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, AJ Odasso and Electra Pritchett join Dan Hartland to talk about popular fiction.
We’re especially happy to announce some new appointments at the Reviews Department.
Wednesday: The Hunger of Those Who Built It by Wendy Waring 
Friday: The Language of Liars by S. L. Huang 
Issue 31 Aug 2026
Issue 24 Aug 2026
Issue 17 Aug 2026
Issue 10 Aug 2026
Issue 3 Aug 2026
Issue 27 Jul 2026
Issue 20 Jul 2026
Issue 13 Jul 2026
By: Aimee Ogden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 6 Jul 2026
Issue 29 Jun 2026
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