without adornment, poetry gives herself to silence…and smoke’s release allows a body’s quiet. By Kara Rochelle

as I sat huddled against the hieroglyphics scratched in a trance along the rusted bars of this tijuana cell I noticed the overripe waterbug scurrying across the freedom land, shiny and black and without care in his pre-chosen path thinking on molded bread crumbs or the slosh of stale beer mixed with brown sweat of [...]

After hours, I awoke in a pool of sweat And the realization that I’m very much not alone I look out my window for the comfort of sunlight Only to be mocked by the skyscrapers of the dead Why had I nestled here I thought So close to this restful sight, so loud in its [...]