Recently, I came across a quote by the poet and translator Richard Wilbur—“One of the jobs of poetry is to make the unbearable bearable, not by falsehood but by clear, precise confrontation”—and the blunt truth of it struck me. Writers may shy away from confrontation in face-to-face settings, but on the page, we are fearless, diving head first into the fray. What will we uncover along the edge of our subconscious? How far will we go?
With impeccable form and crafted precision, the poets, essayists, and storytellers of Issue 21 have taken the leap to confront how it feels…
when the body fails
when the heart breaks
when the hours evaporate
when we fear we take up too much space
when distance swells
when we are powerless to help
when we drown in memory
when we reckon with grief
when it’s time to leave
when it’s painful to grow
when we finally know.
So it goes. As the daylight lengthens and the earth reawakens on this vernal equinox, I hope you’ll feel inspired by these quiet acts of imagination and confrontation.
Sincerely,
Amy Dupcak
Issue 21
March 2024
Poems
- We Know - by Sam Stokley
- Two Poems by Sofia Sears - Cross-Breeze // Halloween, 2022
- South Korea: An Economic Miracle - by Mina Khan
- God Bless Americana - by Adele Elise Williams
- Sanctus - by Robbie Gamble
- Two Poems by Megan Merchant - How to photograph your mother / I // Dispatches from the Saloon
- Standing on the Long Island Expressway Overpass in Queens, New York - by Roxanne Doty
- In Translation: Two poems by Blaže Pavlovski, trans. Kristian Josifoski - Awakening // Budenje | Burning Shadows // Zapaleni Senki
Short Stories
- Discordant - by Ashley W. Cundiff
- The Rockville Blues - by William Hawkins
- The Hound from Oklahoma - by C.E. McKenna
- Two Flash Fiction Stories by James Gyure - Roadside Story // Bad Painting
Personal Essays
- Extra Credit - by Logan M. Shannon
- Between the Hours - by Alice McCormick
- Absent Care: Remembering Haiti - by Krista Puttler
On Writing
- Break It, Crack It: Some Thoughts on Revision - by Laura Stanfill
- Imitation Games: Style, Absurdity, and Generative AI - by Karen Elterman
Issue Cover
Artwork by Kathleen Loe: “Even Math Won’t Save You”
Rights
ISSN 2643-3273. Copyright © Cagibi Literary LLC.
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CAGIBI publishes four digital issues a year. Submissions are open, and editors are reading.
