Red Sky in the Morning
​
​Artwork by Birte Hosken

“View from our window very early in the morning. I wanted to capture the scene before it changed into a more normal morning sky.“
Originally from Germany, Birte Hosken has been in the UK for over 30 years. During lockdown, she created artwork from items found on local Cornish beaches close to her home. She makes mainly wall hangings and driftwood candleholders. She has written two romantic novels set in Cornwall.
www.birtehosken.wixsite.com/author

The Poem in Which I Am Not Sexually Assaulted
After José Olivarez’s “Poem Where No One Is Deported”

Poetry by Anne Walters

CW: Sexual Assault, language, Risky Behavior & Violence


Two Cape Codders
dive into my bloodstream
instead of
tequila shots--
I don’t drown in a sea
of alcohol at the
dim bar. 
I waltz the mile
back to the beach house
sand and gravel mixing under
my flip-flop feet. 
I drift into dreams
sun-drenched
and warm under cotton sheets.

His hands don’t twist
the corkscrew to give me
glasses of red wine. His hands
don’t anchor
me to a storm 
I cannot weather.
He doesn’t wolf whisper 
that he wants to
fuck me, or leave 
cigarette burn marks
on my brain. 
​
Instead--
he kisses his wife
my cousin
good night
and we both 
dream 
of ocean currents 
releasing us to 
shore. 
Anne Walters (they/them) is a queer non-binary writer who lives in New Jersey. They have been published in Midway Journal, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, Three Moon Magazine, among others. When not writing, they enjoy drinking too much coffee and hanging out with their cats. 
@_breakerfall (Instagram)