Interstellar Literary Review’s Issue Release!
Good morning! As many of you know, in late 2020, I founded a literary magazine with a team of editors. We accepted submissions until early December, and two months of editing and proofreading and decisions later: it’s here--Issue 01! Please read these brilliant works of poetry and prose at https://www.interstellarlit.com/issue01!
Additionally, feel free to navigate the rest of our website--we’ve made some updates since you’ve last seen it. I hope you enjoy reading our inaugural issue!
Best regards,
Sunny Vuong
Founder and EIC, Interstellar Literary Review
arguing the elegy
and what if i want to be lonely?
what if beneath my cracking flesh
i am a fever pitch of radiation and ooze
burning the fingers that lay upon me,
no matter how gentle the touch.
what if i am volatile and caked in rust
vaccinate yourself against me
because i can coat the lungs
and i am just enough nicotine to ruin
every last stretching second of sobriety.
good god, what if you're wrong about me
what good am i to the love gifted freely
when the poison of my smile ruins it
indefinitely.
it would be better just to be lonely
and burn away whatever's left of me.
Only The Lonely
What if I want to be lonely?
That is a punishment waiting to happen. Lonely drags you to a demeanor that controls your output to others. Although you think they don't recognize the behavior, the tone of your voice tells
it all. To be alone because your day was chaotic and your night would be occupied from parenting, is one thing. A well deserved day alone at home is appreciated. But to just be lonely is a heart crying with every pulse. To be lonely is a tear lying behind your eyes awaiting its chance to fall on your clothing, just to wet up your appearance. To be lonely is a silence placed in your presence to not be touched until you cry that tear with a pulse from your heart to release the pain you are protecting.
No one wants to be lonely on purpose.
The Worst of Us All
Shattered glass,
A broken pane,
Shattered lass,
A broken Mary Jane.
Crumpled paper,
A lost note,
Crumpled wallpaper,
A lost coat.
Regretted mistakes,
An apology too late,
Regretted outbreaks,
An apology of hate.
A life not long,
A life now gone,
A life without song,
A life where she, didn't belong.
I’ll Take my Leave
Nobody loves me
And I cannot love myself
Perhaps I’m simply ill
And illness can be helped
But that’s not the way it feels
That’s not the way it seems
I’ll say farewell to this loveless world
And then I’ll take my leave
Please follow @genjipoetry on instagram for more poetry like this. Additionally, check out my website, travisliebert.wordpress.com
Comfort Is Within
Comfortable is being comfortable with yourself.
Comfortable is knowing that you except your health.
Comfortable is showing your strongest abilities.
Comfortable is knowing your capabilities.
Comfortable is excepting who you really are.
Comfortable is spreading yourself out enormously far.
My comfort is within.