JAPAN’S FIRST _________

by Jennifer Schneider

Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan

Sanae Takaichi paid 
her own way through higher education, 
her parents didn’t believe school a worthy 
use of change for a girl, even one suited
of big, bigger, the biggest—
reams of dreams,

now, Takaichi holds the country’s highest office, 
a prime minister, my word!

yet       not yet             no, don’t  

In traditional fashion, well-fitted, Takaichi spares 
no hesitation to infuse wrinkles into hopes 
for progress when expressing her limited interest 
in spending or spreading a change of suits
for feminist checklists.

            not yet             no, don’t          amen

Dressed in shades of blue 
that nicely complement the existing political 
climate, Takaichi bows before the men 

who surround 
the camera’s focused lens, 

            smile!  bow     again

dressed on a platform of DNA and policies that ring 
familiar tunes, her maiden voyage–an address 
rooted in conservative values

a sale? at a discount? who’s first? 
a man… amen

Why women don’t need to be first*

1. Because they will bow to men regardless of placement.
2. Because all boats need sales and sailors, not merchants.
3. Because they’ll take their man’s name upon departure.
4. Because others have shown it’s a wasted opportunity.
5. Because all leaders wear suits of spades and kings.
6. Because men will never understand the women’s struggle.
7. Because once a maiden, always a maiden in men’s quarters.
8. Because maiden voyages require too much maintenance.
9. Because all leaders wear pants.
10. Because women’s cycles are enough.
11. Because blue has always been a man’s color.
12. Because women fill in the blanks whenever asked.
13. Because finishing is a man’s work.
14. Because a woman’s interests always come after those of a man.
15. Because it’s a sign of weakness to conclude a sentence with a preposition.

*after “Why We Oppose Pockets for Women” by Alice Duer Miller

Jennifer Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. Recent works include A Collection of Recollections, Invisible Ink, On Habits & Habitats, and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups.

WHAT I NEED TO HEAR

by Stacie Somerset

Two weeks before the election, I visited my hometown—

a conservative Texas suburb of little appeal.

I went to see two queer YouTubers I’d grown up watching.

The YouTubers came out five years ago, shortly after I came out.

Their fanbase is queer and liberal, even in Texas.

At the show they dressed in the queerest outfits they’d ever worn

and announced proudly, “Yes, we are dressed like this. IN TEXAS!”

The audience went wild.

The queer joy was unparalleled. 

I looked at the cheering fans around me and thought,

These are my people.

My people.

I belong here.

After every election, everyone jokes about eliminating the red states.

“Imagine if all the people in Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida just died”

“The country would be so much better without them”

“Those places are hellholes anyway”

And fuck, part of me agrees—Texas is a hellhole,

but it’s a hellhole full of my people.

Good people, queer people, liberal people who can’t leave

or choose to stay and fight.

Part of me is proud of them,

and ashamed I didn’t stay to fight with them.

Over four million Texans voted blue.

Over six million Texans voted red, true,

but four million people is SO MANY PEOPLE.

Too many people to dismiss or ignore.

I will always remember that I can go to Texas

and be surrounded by liberal love and queer joy.

Hate won, but we still exist.

We exist everywhere

—even in the darkest hellholes—

and they cannot erase us.

Stacie Somerset lives in Athens, Ohio with their wife, dog, and two tortoises. They recently received a PhD in English/Creative Writing from Ohio University. Their work has appeared in Arts Against Extremism and elsewhere.

THE POLITICS OF FAITH AND CULTURE

by Cecil Morris

At the corner of faith and culture in Southern Washington,

the Christian conservative congressional candidate 

says that she will bring Scripture-filled and Spirit-infused Prayers 

for the Battlefield to the halls of congress to fight for faith, 

to make us kneel in the benevolent and delighted light of Christ.

She says that she is MomStrong and homeschool smart, 

the author of a bunch of books celebrating bibles

and moms. She says that she puts babies first, that they are her first

and most important constituents, both gift and purpose.

She says that she stands for gun rights and ammo. She says

that she is unapologetic, which means, I suppose,

that she does not ask for or need forgiveness, does not know

contrition. She says that there are just two genders, that God

created them in his image male and female, and I think

that she believes in a hermaphroditic deity,

a god of two genders at once, that she worships a god

with cock and cunt. Or maybe her god is gender fluid,

a male today, a female tomorrow, a god who goes back

and forth as it pleases or as it is necessary

like His perfected creations the Lythrypnus dalli

or Crepidula fornicata or Cornu aspersum.

Or maybe her conception of god is genderless,

more idea or ideal than body—disembodied

and beyond gender concerns. Is creation wrong

or is God or is this Christian candidate mistaken

in her understanding of what God meant or means?

I don’t know. But here, amid the multiple wonders

of this world, amid the incredible diversity

of this life, would God have given us just two genders,

a paltry coin-flip two, an either-or, a binary choice,

a mere dichotomy, a language of only two words

while all around us hums such a rich abundance.

I do not know the mind of God (if such a thing exists),

but I do know for certain sure that I do not want

this person to have the power to govern over me.

Author's Note: The italized portions of lines 3-4 and 13-14 come from (first) Heidi St. John’s website promoting her books, podcasts, and ministry and (second) from her campaign ad aired on KGW Portland on July 22, 2022.

Cecil Morris, a retired high school English teacher, divides his time between Oregon and California.  He has poems in or forthcoming from 3Elements, Ekphrastic Review, English Journal, Evening Street Review, Hiram Review, Hole in the Head Review, The New Verse News, Scapegoat, Talking River Review, and other literary magazines.

BIPARTISAN TO BIPENNATE

by John Beaton

Eagle with One Wing by Christopher Hall.

I saw a bird with just one wing.
The poor thing could not fly;
it fluttered in a clockwise ring.
Another squawked nearby,

similarly handicapped,
but anticlockwise in
the one-winged way it feebly flapped.
They filled me with chagrin

and then a bright idea brewed—
what if I was to tie
the two together? Then they could
Siamesely fly.

And so they did, the left wing and
the right, united, flew.
It happened in cloud cuckoo land—
one wing was red, one blue.



John Beaton, a retired actuary who was born in Scotland, is a widely published poet and spoken word performer from Vancouver Island, Canada.

SELF-MADE MAN

by Tom Russell

I gave birth to myself.

I discovered fire so that I could eat
whatever I, alone, produced.

I didn’t read your books,
you read mine.

I coined all the phrases.

I invented the wheel
and built all the roads
that wheels carry my money on.

I did all this with no help from anyone.

I created the dial tones and cyberspace
and made all the deals.

I forged all my own tools,
and that includes you.

Now you want to abuse me
with your regulations and taxations.
Blathering about responsibility
and shared sacrifice.

Suck it up, weasels.
Next you’ll be wanting your own bootstraps.

I don’t care who among you
gets sick or dies.
It pleases me
to see the spite you have for each other.

You are blind and weak.
Even if you could see my curtain
you wouldn’t be able to move it
and know that I am there.


Tom Russell works for the Omaha Public Library in Omaha, Nebraska. His poems have appeared in The New Verse News, Shot Glass Journal, and Crab Fat Literary Magazine.

EVIL ON A SMILEY FACE

by George Salamon




  They stride in Washington's corridors of power,
  shit-eating grins on their well-fed faces,
  irresponsible thugs wearing dark suits and conservative ties.
  They strive to deprive the poor and the helpless of
  food and health, of dignity and hope.
  Jesus would have chased them out of the temple,
  Moses would have smashed tablets over their heads,
  God would have told them that He does not
  help those who already help themselves.

  The trio of love, mercy and compassion
  has abandoned us to  mean-spirited
  bookkeepers and power-hungry Caesars,
  rulers of the market and governors of nations,
  CEOs of selfishness preached in our
  business schools and bibles of management.
  These new priests of the global religion
  cut the heart out of what was best in us.
  We stood by and eagerly scooped up
  the crumbs that fell off their table.

  And now we are forced to swallow the dessert.


George Salamon taught German literature and culture at several East Coast colleges, was a reporter for the St. Louis Business Journal and senior editor of Defense Systems Review. He has contributed to The Washington Post, The American Conservative, New Verse News and writes regularly for the Gateway Journalism Review. He currently lives in St. Louis, MO.