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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
In Front Of The Black Sea, Matthew Batt
In Front Of The Black Sea, Matthew Batt
On Earth As It Is
Dear God,
Ali and Sema have a daughter!
It’s raining in St. Paul but
there was a spot right in front
of the Black Sea and I wasn’t going
to go—it was already almost three
and I thought I could just plow through
till dinner but then I saw the sign—
the sign! in the window! Ali and Sema
have a daughter!
Three Prayers, Melissa Broder
Three Prayers, Melissa Broder
On Earth As It Is
Pennsylvania Prayer
Bless me I was once myself and couldn't read
a thermostat. My mother's breasts were long
inside her bathrobe. Sometimes we were Polish.
I believe god knows these things about me
so I needn’t say them with heart. I'm afraid
to say anything with heart.
Lord, Ken Baumann
Lord, Ken Baumann
On Earth As It Is
ConAgra, bread-keeper; save us from our misery.
The stores dried up, people float in and out as if in a dream, wandering empty aisles and pushing imagined carts, checking out their bounty, self-scanning.
May you please render us saved.
And the farmers in Portland and Studio City and Brooklyn, with their small hands and meager yields, their rooftop stalks, they have been taken and put up in cages.
Make them free.
An Open Letter Of Prayer To The Country Of Russia, Sean Carman
An Open Letter Of Prayer To The Country Of Russia, Sean Carman
On Earth As It Is
Russia!
I know you only through your
quirky and enigmatic literature,
full of ranting underground lunatics,
characters who bustle and fly,
and noses that roam St. Petersburg.
A Prayer For Lack Of You, Kyle Minor
A Prayer For Lack Of You, Kyle Minor
On Earth As It Is
When I was a child I feared all the Old Testament curses—dogs, frogs, being struck down by forked lightning? Which were Old Testament curses and which were the talk of the traveling preachers in their white suits and black slickback hair? Either way, it doesn't matter. One was You and the other was You. You let anyone who wants to speak for You speak for You, so what is left for the children of the world to do but see You in the ones who speak for You? If You are You, shame on You, for sparing those who speak …
A Statement From The Defense, Erin Mcgraw
A Statement From The Defense, Erin Mcgraw
On Earth As It Is
Because you promised to be with me even to the end of time. Because you told me to be still and know who you are. Because it was said you would lead me through the shadow of the valley of death and take away my fear, but I still have my fear. Because you promised me repose.
Something To Be Desired, Diana Joseph
Something To Be Desired, Diana Joseph
On Earth As It Is
Maynard Prine of Reynold's Creek, West Virginia was fierce in his faith, an obedient servant of You, Lord, Your miracles, Your Mysterious Ways. It was Your mandate that my father take up the serpent, that he handle the flame. This man was not afraid.
Prayer For Amniocentesis, David Mcglynn
Prayer For Amniocentesis, David Mcglynn
On Earth As It Is
We have been debating names for weeks, but now we choose one, Hayden, aware it’s a name we might have to bury. I sit on the edge of the bed and think about the vial of amniotic fluid—Katherine’s water—traveling by van to the lab in Milwaukee. I think of its soft amber color, its protective viscosity, its blizzard of DNA, the helix of Hayden’s existence a braid of Katherine’s alleles and mine.
Prayer, Adam Robinson
Prayer, Adam Robinson
On Earth As It Is
God,
nothing inspires fear in me like swallowing an apple seed. What if there are worms in the fruit that rises up from my belly? Worms freak me out.
But you know I love trees, God. Your creation is really magnificent.
Decomposing Articles Of Faith, Melissa Pritchard
Decomposing Articles Of Faith, Melissa Pritchard
On Earth As It Is
In which Sister Pritchard, Scribbler Pritchard, Goody Pritchard holds forth:
Praise God
That God both does and does not uphold our Neighborhood Watch.
That God both is and is not a projection of our innermost desires and fears.
That God is a handyman, our prayers to Him a honey-do.
"I Never Ask", Matthew Specktor
"I Never Ask", Matthew Specktor
On Earth As It Is
What do you want from me? Where should I go? What am I waiting for? What’s your name? What about the other guy? How ‘bout those people I don’t know? Help that ugly girl, the guy who cut me off in traffic, the woman with the bad breath, those Craigslisters, the people who can’t spell. Help the Un-readers, O Lord, the people with Kindles, the Amazon shoppers, those folks who send too many Tweets. Bless the Status Updaters, who bore me, the breakfast-detailers and candid photographers, the ones with the burpy babies, the dying fish, the new puppies, the Ecstatics. …
The Miracle: Lullaby For Lost Children, Melanie Rae Thon
The Miracle: Lullaby For Lost Children, Melanie Rae Thon
On Earth As It Is
Pink pyrola, trailing daisy—magenta flames of shooting stars, brilliant gold of glacier lilies.
Hush now, beloved.
The hummingbird comes to sip from foxglove and Sweet William, drinks from the hollyhock, opens the snapdragon.
Why are you afraid?
Hello, Brain, It's Me, Ray Vukcevich
Hello, Brain, It's Me, Ray Vukcevich
On Earth As It Is
Hello, 90% of my brain which is totally, or at least mostly, inaccessible to consciousness, this is the part of us that thinks of itself as “Ray Vukcevich” although sometimes we suspect that part is really “Henry.” Would people have called him “Hank” if things had developed a little differently? What I’m wondering about today is Time. It's a subject that seems so simple at first but is not at all simple and probably has a lot to do with Everything. I’d like to run it by you. I hope you will have ideas. I hope you will tell me …
Transubstance, Nicole Walker
Transubstance, Nicole Walker
On Earth As It Is
The word morph sounds so soft but there is
tugging and there is pulling. The unsticking of legs
from the threads breaks any thoughts of grace.
Dear God, Kirsty Logan
Dear God, Kirsty Logan
On Earth As It Is
I call you god but you know I don't believe. I never have. well, maybe I did once, for a few months, when I was nine. remember that little book of bible stories, the one with the mustard-yellow cover and shiny red letters? of course you know. you know everything. or you would, if I believed.
Ecclesiastes Ii: Son Of The Philosopher, Bryan Furuness
Ecclesiastes Ii: Son Of The Philosopher, Bryan Furuness
On Earth As It Is
Some days I think the clouds are your eyes. Some days I think the birds are your voice. You laugh, chide, scatter thistle all over my lawn and screw up my grass as some kind of lesson I'll never understand because I don't speak bird.
How To Become A Prayer, Giancarlo Ditrapano
How To Become A Prayer, Giancarlo Ditrapano
On Earth As It Is
Attention is the very essence of prayer. I am the bread of only my life. I look at prayers on the page. I read them and I lay my voice on top of the prayers. I drape them with my voice and make them mine. I put on my jacket and go out into the night to meet other prayers. I was nine when the Lord wasn’t watching over my family as I had prayed he would for all of those nights. The fuck, he smashed my brother’s car into a utility pole on a south Florida interstate, killing him …
Secret Oxygen, Kim Thomas
Secret Oxygen, Kim Thomas
On Earth As It Is
The firemen access our building invisibly. I thought they would stop coming because you summoned strength against them. I’m sure the firemen have instructions for seizures. Kept in a red tool chest. Explicitly labeled help. I’m sure others, like you, ask them to leave. I understand this fear of judgment, yet it is not enough.
For A Recently Discovered Shipwreck At The Bottom Of Lake Michigan, Matthew Olzmann
For A Recently Discovered Shipwreck At The Bottom Of Lake Michigan, Matthew Olzmann
On Earth As It Is
4/2/2010
Dear Shipwreck,
Even though you’re over a century old, they say that everything inside you is still intact. Even the crew? Must be lonely. I’ll write again.