Collaborative Poem by Alexis Bates & Logan February

pomegranate

with a neck bent / like prayer
I clung to the fruit as though I was
a part of it / a seed needing to be cut

away / I stared at food the way
murderers look / at their victims
the way God looks upon his creations

a single      pomegranate
holds hundreds of decisions inside
its  skin      & eating was always

the wrong one / but it was sacred
sliding pulped flesh past my lips
spitting out seeds / just like it is

holy / to claim the self:
sickness / success /

I am hundreds of little / red decisions
scattered on the kitchen floor
& so what / if they don’t all taste good

I stare in the mirror / take a knife
to these delicate       ideals
split them         open wider

& wider / avoid the body
grip the fruit      tight

it does not taste killer
I do not feel victimized
this is still        progress

---

Alexis Bates is a poet and writer that uses words to become intimate with an audience. You can read her words in Luna Luna Magazine, Five:2:One, Vagabond City Lit, and elsewhere. Her micro-chap, When Cars Touch, is forthcoming from Ghost City Press.

Logan February is a happy-ish Nigerian owl who likes pizza & typewriters. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in (b)OINK, Wildness, Vagabond City, and more. His chapbooks, Painted Blue with Saltwater (Indolent Books) and How to Cook a Ghost (Glass Poetry Press) are forthcoming. Say hello on Instagram & Twitter @loganfebruary.

Hear Luna Luna Staff Read At Clash Books Reading in NYC

BY LISA MARIE BASILE

Excuse me for the love fest, but Clash Books is having a reading at NYC literary institution KGB Bar September 15. And there will be a bunch of Luna Luna editors and writers present—so come out and show the love. Let's cuddle.

Details below:

CLASH Books is proud to present this stellar lineup of authors reading from Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey and Sylvia Plath, This Book Ain’t Nuttin to F**k With: A Wu-Tang Tribute Anthology, The Anarchist Kosher Cookbook, A Confederacy of Hot Dogs, and Dark Moons Rising in a Starless Night. *Editor Lisa Marie Basile will read from her Clash Books novella-in-progress.

Readers from Luna Luna include Loren Kleinmen, Christine Stoddard, Trish Grisafi, editor Lisa Marie Basile, Christoph Paul of Clash Books and Leza Cantoral of Clash Books.

LOREN KLEINMAN has published four full-length poetry collections: Flamenco Sketches, The Dark Cave Between My Ribs, Breakable Things, and Stay with Me Awhile, and a memoir The Woman with a Million Hearts. Her nonfiction appeared in The New York Times, ROAR, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Woman’s Day, Seventeen, USA Today, Good Housekeeping, and The Huffington Post, while her poetry appeared in Drunken Boat, The Moth, Columbia Journal, Patterson Literary Review, and more.

CHRISTINE STODDARD is a Salvadoran-Scottish-American writer and artist who lives in Brooklyn. She is the founding editor of Quail Bell Magazine, an art and culture magazine. She is also the author of Naomi and the Reckoning (Black Magic Media), Jaguar in the Cotton Field (Another New Calligraphy), Hispanic & Latino Heritage in Virginia (The History Press), Ova (Dancing Girl Press), Chica/Mujer (Locofo Press), Lavinia Moves to New York (Underground Voices), Harlem Mestiza (Maverick Duck Press), and other titles. Her work has appeared in national magazines and anthologies by Candlewick Press, Civil Coping Mechanisms, ELJ Publications, and other publishers.

LISA MARIE BASILE is an editor, writer and poet living in NYC. She is the founding editor-in-chief of Luna Luna Magazine and the author of APOCRYPHAL (Noctuary Press, 2014), as well as a few chapbooks: Andalucia (Poetry Society of New York), War/Lock(Hyacinth Girl Press), and Triste (Dancing Girl Press). Her book NYMPHOLEPSY (co-authored with poet Alyssa Morhardt-Goldstein), was a finalist in the 2017 Tarpaulin Sky Book Awards. Her poetry and other work can be or will be seen in PANK, Spork, The Atlas Review, Tarpaulin Sky, the Tin House blog, The Huffington Post, The Rumpus, Rogue Agent, Moonsick Magazine, Best American Poetry, Spoon River Poetry Review, PEN American Center and the Ampersand Review, among others. 

PATRICIA GRISAFI, PhD, is a New York City-based freelance writer, teacher, and poet. Her work has appeared in Salon, Bitch, Bustle, Ravishly, The Rumpus, The Establishment, and elsewhere, and she is a contributing writer for Luna Luna Magazine. She is passionate about pitbull rescue, cursed objects, and designer sunglasses.

LEZA CANTORAL is a writer and editor from Mexico with a B.A. in Cultural History. She is the author of Cartoons in the Suicide Forest and the editor of the upcoming CLASH Books Anthology Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey and Sylvia Plath. She hosts a literary podcast where she talks to cool ass writers atgetlitwithleza.podbean.com. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @lezacantoral

CHRISTOPH PAUL is the author of Horror Film Poems and Slasher Camp for Nerd Dorks. He is the editor of CLASH Books Anthologies including Walk Hand in Hand Into Extinction: Stories Inspired by True Detective and This Book Ain’t Nuttin to Fuck With: A Wu-Tang Tribute Anthology. He is co-publisher and editor of CLASH Media and CLASH Books. He plays in rock band Mandy De Sandra and The Deviants but still wishes he was a gangsta rapper. Twitter @ChristophPaul_

MAXWELL BAUMAN is a halfway-decent Jewish boy from the Bronx. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Door Is A Jar literary magazine. His collection of Jewish humor stories, The Anarchist Kosher Cookbook is coming out later this year from CLASH Books. Follow him on Twitter at @maxwellbauman

MAME BOUGOUMA DIENE is a Franco –Senegalese American humanitarian living in Brooklyn, New York, and the US/Francophone spokesperson for the African Speculative Fiction Society (http://www.africansfs.com/), with a fondness for progressive metal, tattoos and policy analysis. You can find his work in Brittle Paper, Omenana, Galaxies Magazine (French), Edilivres (French), Fiyah! Magazine, Truancy Magazine and Strange Horizons, and in anthologies such as AfroSFv2 (Storytime), Myriad lands (Guardbridge Books), You Left Your Biscuit Behind (Fox Spirit Books), This Book Ain’t Nuttin to Fuck Wit (New English Press), and of course Clash Media. Follow him @mame_bougouma on twitter.

August 2017 Poetry Contest Winners: Barber, Räihä, Hall

BY LISA MARIE BASILE

“Today you are there like any other emptiness. — Freke Räihä”

Introducing Luna Luna's three August 2017 flash poetry contest winners, Freke Räihä, Cornelia Barber and Erin Marie Hall.

I loved their poems because they all approached the idea of death from unique standpoints—their language was crisp, and surprising, and heartbreaking. I could feel the grief. I am so grateful to be publishing this work.

I took each of the images from sacred places, places where I had meditated on life and death, places that are of significance in my own life. With a topic such as death, and with work so vulnerable, I thought it was important to make sure the presentation came, all around, from a place of intent. 

Please share the images and talk about the poems. 

15 Presses & Journals That Will Make You Weep With Pleasure

BY LISA MARIE BASILE

I'm sure plenty of you know a few of these, but allow me, for those who might not, to introduce and love on the presses that are currently sending me into literary-body-psychic overdrive. What does this actually mean? It means I've been devouring their books for some time or that I've discovered their new work, or am re-reading their older work and losing my mind over it again and again. I believe that these presses and journals are doing beautiful, unique things,  and I love the voices and work they're putting out there. To blood and beauty! 

1. Wakefield Press 

If you could press your hand against my chest, you would feel my heart fluttering. Wakefield Press is one of my new favorites, and it should be yours, too. Devoted to 'overlooked gems' in translation, literary oddities, and elegant packaging (oh god they are so good to us), this press is bringing immense beauty to the literary landscape.

I just got my hands on:

Spells by Michel de Ghelderode

Murder Most Serene by Gabrielle Wittkop 

The Cathedral of Mist by Paul Willems

2. Siren Songs
Joanna C. Valente, managing editor here at Luna Luna, runs an imprint on Civil Coping Mechanisms—and they're publishing Devin Kelly, Cooper Wilhelm, Jayy Dodd, and Omatara James. Literally am waiting on the edge of my fucking seat. The press seeks work by queer, trans, nonbinary, women and people of color. 

3. Inside the Castle

OK. So Inside the Castle runs a residency in October called Castle Freak. Do you feel that? That's me having an orgasm. This press is deliciously dark and strange, and everyone should check out their dedication to literature that does more. They publish 'difficult poetry and prose poetry.' Wouldst thou pick me up from the floor?

4. Cordella Magazine

I just discovered this gem—they publish women artists and writers, and the magazine itself is filled with unique, beautiful work. It feels like you're flipping pages as you move through the beautiful site.

5. Tarpaulin Sky

Full disclosure: I'm in a full-on romantic relationship with this press and journal. They might not know it, but I do. They've always been my go-to for good reading, they publish superb books, and they even chose my manuscript Nympholepsy as a finalist in their 2017 book awards. Their work is tight, well-crafted, and aesthetically inclined. 

6. Occulum

Just click click click and indulge in the beauty. Their about page says, "Unreliable sources have claimed that OCCULUM is David Lynch’s favorite lit journal. This in turn, is also unreliable." Which, yes, please. They're ok with 'semi-normies' (lol no one here) but they publish speculative fiction and 'species' of poetry. Their peculiarities are why I dearly love them.

7. Monstering

As someone with a chronic illness, I love the fact that Monstering Mag makes a space for discussions around the body, disabled experiences, nombinary voices, and illness. Their work is vulnerable, necessary, and thoughtful. 

RELATED: 6 Online Lit Mags For Ladies Who Love Creepy Poems

8. Spork Press

Run by Richard Siken (I know he's your favorite, too), this lit journal and press puts out some fantastic work. Each issue is like a mini car crash you can't look away from. The work is always tight as fuck.

9. Paragraphiti

Just discovered their 'Romanian poet' issue, and I'm in love. It's so important that we are treated to translated work, and I'm so glad to see journals like this one do the heavy lifting. 

10. Action Books

One of my favorite all-time presses, Action Books makes books that make me weep and then go write books that make other people weep. And repeat. There isn't a single solitary book in their catalogue that won't break your heart and threaten your ideas of the literary status quo. You will realize what you've been missing. You will drown in it. The work is transcendent of what we know and understand and accept. 

11. Timeless Infinite Light

With their focus on the radical and mystical, this queer collective produces books that are loud and heavy in your hands. And always beautiful. Also, they've got a "west coast lean," which, to a New Yorker, means there's a hazy intoxicating palm tree ocean spray magic to it all. Their books also LOOK delicious. And, they focus on giving a voice to identities often excluded from the conversation.

12. Grimoire

Grimoire, like Luna Luna, makes a space for the occult alongside their literary selections. The work is stellar, and their little spell-treats and seances are especially to die for. I love this journal and can't wait to keep reading each new issue. 

13. Dreginald

So apparently I was late to the party with Dreginald. Just discovered how awesome they are, and I am blown away. Their selections are carefully crafted, insanely unique, and they prick at you—leaving you feeling the wound long after you've left the site. Also, DREGINALD. Just say it.

Bonus Round: new journals 

14. Bad Pony 

This magazine is brandy-new, insanely beautiful, and not yet live. Their mission says, "We are a very bad pony. Maybe we have always been that way. Maybe we had a particularly bad childhood where instead of hay or grass, we were fed a large amount of Starburst," which has done me in. I am ready for this bad bad pony. 

15. Moonchild Magazine

Our very own Nadia is launching her own literary magazine this Friday—and we can't wait. Nadia's eye for beautiful, audacious work helps shape Luna Luna, so I can't wait for her dreamy creation.

---

Lisa Marie Basile is an editor, writer and poet living in NYC. She is the founding editor-in-chief of Luna Luna Magazine and the author of APOCRYPHAL (Noctuary Press, 2014), as well as a few chapbooks: Andalucia (Poetry Society of New York), War/Lock (Hyacinth Girl Press), and Triste (Dancing Girl Press). Her bookNYMPHOLEPSY (co-authored with poet Alyssa Morhardt-Goldstein), was a finalist in the 2017 Tarpaulin Sky Book Awards. She is working on her first poetic fiction novella, to be released by Clash Books/Clash Media.

For Babes Who Kiss Wet On First Meeting Especially Liana

BY LAURA MARIE MARCIANO

A persistent dry                           spell     

                  no      wet 

 for two months              mollycoddle       

He was like a musician and all like had a music video 

             Orange leaves on window    or asking 

                                                 Will you meet me in the park 

              and wake with grass stains on lips 

He texts  and       I texted    

something about legs being fine as hell

The prophet suggested that bee saving was better than dick picks 

          sent me enough             so many - enough to fill a whole room 

traveling in my pocket for three weeks like a dead ass prayer 

And this empty prescription bottle like a fish that saved me

in empty   empty   water

I met you in the park  first fucked  on  knees from behind 

    told  to be quieter when I screamed through green 

                                          and grey light 

           ambient city nature buzz and cool spit off small but plump mouth     watched your pleasure twisted face below me 

It was the best sex I had in three years   Or some shit

            but then you came 

 got up and asked me if I  always kissed men that passionately when 

     I first met them  when i first           allowed them to stretch my adidas track pants off in the summer suss garden

                           shame       or 

              near home

Said if you knew I had a car you would have made me drive you 

I don't know what a prayer is but Mary I do know how to bend on my knees for 15 hot minutes and repent 

       I asked all my girlfriends to text bomb you when you ghosted

       I asked Solange to stop letting you perform in her show

       I asked the whatever to tell your  girlfriend about your habits

I just wish for the culture 

      sunflower seed stuck in teeth     pretending not to weep into brown
leather seats 

I just wish 

              This could  be different or        

 I asked for Ana that we all know she was an actual victim of hot   dead            boys 

                              #alreadydead  

What did I expect - perpetuating rape culture with my wet pussy in your fuckboi hands way after bedtime for 

                girls who don't kiss as passionately when they first meet       anyway 

    ever

               they              never          Quazz              

your name?    is that your      name        I swear those                   other girls 

          they never                    do that 

---

Laura Marie Marciano is a poet, performer, educator and media artist. She is the founder of gemstone readings and the author of Mall Brat ( CCM 2016). She received her MFA from Brooklyn College and is a PhD candidate at URI. She works as the managing editor of Barrow Street Press. She lives on the Internet.