Scoundrel Time

Theater of War

A small but important element of Russia’s attempt to rob Ukraine of its sovereignty is the theft of Ukrainian art. Earlier this year, the New York Times reported on the coordinated Russian looting of thousands...

A Plea to Donald J. Trump from an Actual Witch Hunter

Dear Mr. Trump, On behalf of witch hunters the world over—and we do work on every continent but Antarctica, where we’re currently trying to establish a field office—I urge you to please stop referring to every...

What Was Sent

Letters and cards of sympathy come in first. They are sent by individuals, whole schools, churches, youth groups, Brownie troops, the town’s sister city in Estonia. They are thinking of the families, the...

Survival and Solace: Story of a Refugee Turned Aid Worker

One day in the autumn of 2016, Sami Malouf [1], a 26-year-old Syrian refugee, stepped off a bus in Athens, Greece. Sami had no money. It wasn’t a case of having not much money; he didn’t have any money. He had...

The Right Shoes

This couldn’t be happening, but it was. Diana met her manager’s gaze, then looked down. The issue was the application she maintained, which was outdated. The technology would no longer be supported. “Your...

Pixanes

Translation from the Spanish by Tyler Gebauer The building super told me that a pair of white men, looking like businessmen and speaking with upper-class accents, had shown up at the boarding house late one afternoon...

Four Poems by Ellen June Wright

Angola Angela, from the African region known as Angola, grower of figs, keeper of pigs, recorded as Angelo. Watched over by angels for whom she was named, survived the crossing in a ship’s bowels, survived pirates and...

Ned Rorem (1923-2022)

“Do not go, Gentile, into that good night,” I murmured, reading of Ned Rorem’s recent death. It’s hard to imagine what a shock, in 1966, when religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation were still taboo, the self...

Four Poems by Denise Duhamel

MY MOTHER’S COVER-UP I bought one for her at Walgreens—teal blue with sparkles. She was so hunched over and short by then, it flowed almost to her ankles. I kept it here in Florida so that when she visited it was one...

Protagonist Syndrome

my girlfriend’s best friend is convinced she has covid. I’ve heard all her stories – I admit, there’s a good chance she has. but last week, when her housemate was sick with a fever, she had said it was...

from The Lisa Sequence

from The Lisa Sequence Smile The obedient child will smile for any picture, will wait for the camera in the school’s cafeteria on that singular day, lined up with the rest, steadying herself, brushed that morning and...

ON THE WAY TO PARADISE

Jessie O’Neal is touring again. The Tribune printed another clever Jessie story. I’m sure she called the reporter. She knows them all by now. Maybe she needed to sell more tickets. The lady knows how to create interest...

Ultima Multis

The polishing rag folded inside a bespoke vest I purchased on impulse has a name sewn on by hand: Ultima Multis. And when I’m shining my mouth harps after a solitary session of practice, I ask the piece of flag if she...

The Desert

Translated from Kurdish by Basir Borhani Hashoush’s younger sister rushed inside and spat out briskly, “Mom…! Mom, the Kurds will be moved again tomorrow.” At that moment, Hashoush and I were sitting opposite each...

Real Names in Real Clothing

Translated from Farsi by S. Ganjbakhsh 1 In 1850, during a religious civil conflict, a sixteen-year-old girl called Zaynab who was skilled in martial arts had to cut her hair and fight in men’s clothing. She was even...