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in the normal course of abnormal events
we can’t stop helping each other
the last of the water
gone to the neighbor’s daughter
I give her an hour
two at most

and when she’s free
as sunlight is free
of the glare of sand
we’ll face our own freedom

the camels and goats
grown thin and frail
will soon stop producing
their weak milk
the malformed figs taste of sand
the dunes move
each day we shift our camp of people
thrown together by these events

we had heard
of the many ways a world
can end

the sky remains its painful blue
the cold stars seem bitter
are we to eat sand?
drink the wind?

those few of us that recall
the sound of thunder
the power of rains
sound like liars to the young.



Joanne Merriam is the publisher at Upper Rubber Boot Books. She is a new American living in Nashville, having immigrated from Nova Scotia. She most recently edited Broad Knowledge: 35 Women Up To No Good, and her own poetry has appeared in dozens of places including Asimov's, The Fiddlehead, Grain, and previously in Strange Horizons.
Roger Dutcher lives in Wisconsin, where he enjoys jazz, wine, and poetry. His poetry has appeared in Asimov’s, Modern Haiku, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He is the co-founder, and editor, of The Magazine of Speculative Poetry. He was awarded a Rhysling from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA).
Current Issue
9 Feb 2026

“I’ve never actually visited the pā before,” she said out loud. “Is this where they gather lāʻī to make the pūʻolo?” she asked. “Yes,” Benny responded, glancing to see where Nanea was pointing. “Here and in other places as well. Many of these ti have been growing for decades now.” She paused for a moment. “I think about all the work you guys do, you know, up in those offices, and I think that all of that work actually starts from right here, in the ground, all covered in the earth and the pōhaku and the ti. Most people don’t even know it, but it all starts right here.
sometime in the night, we heard rocking and knocking and rapping and tapping, a million trillion tiny feet
The triangles bred and twisted, replicating themselves.
Wednesday: Arctic Knot by Ivan Leonov 
Friday: Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989 by Andrea Horbinski 
Issue 2 Feb 2026
By: Natasha King
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 26 Jan 2026
Issue 19 Jan 2026
Issue 12 Jan 2026
Issue 5 Jan 2026
Strange Horizons
Issue 22 Dec 2025
Issue 15 Dec 2025
Strange Horizons
Issue 8 Dec 2025
Issue 1 Dec 2025
Issue 24 Nov 2025
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