Online Table of Contents

• Editor's Choice Poems
  • "The Vampire as Narcissist," by Duane Ackerson
  • Untitled Tanka by Joshua Gage
• Full Table of Contents

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Editor's Choice Poems

"The Vampire as Narcissist," by Duane Ackerson

Yes, the hair continues to grow after death—
even more so among the living dead.
Before a night out on the town,
he can't just go into a barber shop and say,
"Shave and a haircut, two bits."
(Even though he is old enough to remember
when those services only cost a quarter.)
So, at home, he passes on the electric razor
(besides, the power to the mansion
was shut off, past due years before);
instead, opting for the good, old-fashioned straightedge.
Trying to unearth his reflection in the mirror,
he draws blood
along with a full-throated scream.
Licking the blade clean,
drawing fresh blood from the tongue,
he drinks even deeper of the elixir of death.
No reason to go out now.
He can just stay home
and enjoy himself.

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Untitled Tanka by Joshua Gage

sweeping dust
from Martian petroglyphs—
matching my hand
to these long fingers,
one too many

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Full Table of Contents

Features

• Quarks & Strings • Marge Simon
• President's Message • Deborah P Kolodji
• Stealth SF • Denise Dumars
• Guidelines: Prose Poetry Issue
• Illuminating the Prose Poem • Bruce Boston
• Last-Breath Poetry • Charles Gramlich
• Reviews from the Small Press • Edward Cox, David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Poetry

• Ray-Gun Wedding • Robert Borski
• Closing a Footnote File • Steve Sneyd
• The XenodateT Center for Physical Enhancement • Terrie Leigh Relf
• Titles for the Great American SF Novel • Bruce Boston
• Wasteland Office Party • James A. Gianforti
• Therapy • Chris Flowers
• When Is Wisdom Born • Steve Sneyd
• Ghosts of the Machines • Alan Vincent Michaels
• Sleeping Beauty's Insomniac Twin • Jeannine Hall Gailey
• Call and Response • Steve Sneyd
• Pieces of You • Matthew Masucci
• Simple But Effective • Steve Sneyd
• Layover • Shawn Bowman
• Falstaff Revisited • Deborah P Kolodji
• three haiku • Chris Burdett
• VS. Part III • Stephen M. Wilson
• Feeding Season • John Nichols
• Disturbance on the Inside of an Eyelid • Colin Richard
• Casual Friday • Marcie Lynn Tentchoff
• In the Court of the Night • Marcie Lynn Tentchoff
• The Sages of Planet Aziveko Nine Respond to Queries.… • Marcie Lynn Tentchoff
• Star-Ship English • PS Cottier
• Joy Ride • Angel Favazza
• The Vampire as Narcissist • Duane Ackerson
• untitled tanka • Joshua Gage
• Scary Poem • Jessy Randall
• Stellar Games • Alan Vincent Michaels
• two untitled • Karen L. Newman
• Today in the Power Outage • Danny Adams
• two untitled • Jessy Randall and Daniel M. Shapiro
• Priorities of a Full Frontal Variety • Colin Richard