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welcome, stranger! welcome, stranger!
first, rest your weary eyes; first, rest your weary eyes;
then choose your door: then choose your door:
it matters not which, it matters not which,
for—just as one skeleton for—just as one skeleton
is the same as another— is the same as another—
these, too, are almost the same, these, too, are almost the same,
leading you to one room. leading you to one room.
come in, and come in, come in, and come in,
you are welcome here! you are welcome here!
on that singular chair, sit: on that singular chair, sit:
and I will tell you a secret. and I will tell you a secret.
you must divide yourself you must divide yourself
from yourself, and submit, from yourself, and submit,
to find what was never to find what was never
meant to be found: meant to be found:
a third room, in a third room, in
the two-room suite the two-room suite


Lucy Harlow grew up in England and Hong Kong, and currently lives in Philadelphia. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Strange Horizons, Aliterate, Bracken, and others. She is a PhD candidate in the English department at Princeton. Her website is www.lucyharlow.com.
Current Issue
2 Mar 2026

Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons invites non-fiction submissions for our March 30 special issue on “Fungi in SFF.”
Once I’ve finished writing, I will fold this letter up and tuck it into the Tristram you kindly loaned me (may it be our Galeotto … ). I’ll knock on your door, at which point I will most likely encounter a puzzled maidservant, who will ask who in the world I am, and I will explain that I am returning a book you were kind enough to bestow on me (generous creature that you are and clearly down-on-their-luck weatherworn would-be poet that I am).
the trees were softening, their bark for the hungry to scrape and scrape and spread it on whatever bread they could beg or bake
i must warn you before all else / before you poke and prod
Paul Kincaid and Dawn Macdonald join Dan Hartland to discuss style.
Strange Horizons
2 Mar 2026
Strange Horizons invites non-fiction submissions for our March 30 special issue on “Fungi in SFF.”
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Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity 
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Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
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