May 6, 2024

4 Poems by Joe Farina

4 Poems by Joe Farina

*Image courtesy of Amber Kipp on Unsplash* National Poetry Month may be over, but we still have plenty of great poetry to share. Let’s give a warm welcome to Joe Farina as he joins FC’s family with his collection of somber poems. street dreams does a street have a memory, beneath its many coats does it remember every soul, who walked upon it does it long for a return, to cobblestones and carriages or quicken to the thunder of street cars on silver tracks drugged by combustion engines does it remember being fashioned by the din of picks and shovels wielded by strange speaking labourers until it gleamed, new, in overcoats of smooth concrete and asphalt marked with cryptic symbols does this street have my dreams leaking out its cracks does it smile, as i,…

Continue reading →

June 29, 2019

Hiding out in Bathrooms by Julia Hwang

Hiding out in Bathrooms by Julia Hwang

I. Shame eating + the sterility of bleach = A well-balanced breakfast? I stuff Kit Kat wrappers in with feminine waste and wipe my hands of chocolate on too tight pants   II. Scream and smash and scream some more and throw the vase’s remains against the door Icy water surges and deafens I recoil into a pool of red  How shocking! That a hand holds this much blood That our pain could clog a drain III. DON’T DO IT Whoops too late I POP and SQUEEZE and SCRATCHwatching tiny pricks of blood bloom across my face I am bumpy, bitter ugliness I refuse to recognize her  I dab away tears with salicylic acid I bury her with clay  IV. I am grown I am a woman yet still, I hide out in bathroomsscarfing down deli meats wiping at my nose, sloppily I am a girl eavesdropping on whispers and giggles avoiding conference calls and confrontation drowning out crying babies, sirens wailing catching a breath always ashamed still alone  Julia Hwang is an emerging poet writing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her work, which tends to be narrative, women-focused,…

Continue reading →