Guidelines



Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

I HAVE NO WORDS

by Arshi Mortuza



I replaced i’s with !’s
E’s with 3s
Countries with fruits and 
News of g3noc!d3 with 
Skull emojis. 

I [crying face] for ALL (yes, all)
!nnocent lives lost
Because what m0nster 
Would differentiate between 
Human bl00d?

I speak droid
To convey my beep-ing p@in towards 
Humans stripped off humanity 
All the while dreaming 
Of planting 
little w@termelon seeds.

Sh@me on you.

Sh@me on me.


Arshi Mortuza is a 20-something Bangladeshi poet living in Canada. She is the author of the poetry collection One Minute Past Midnight. Arshi’s poetry and prose have been featured in various literary outlets across the globe.