Odd how we only kiss face to face—I want the back of my skull to know yours, I want that primordial rush of ocean when your ear mouths mine, when my navel lies on yours like a sand dollar, tails on tails. I want our ankles to rub enough fire to wet our tongues, jig to saw, turret to trench. I want our elbows to…
Call for Submissions
If you find life rather dark and look to the Portland Review to lighten the load, then we need more submissions. We are in a slight lull right now, so submit to us your finest work and we will spread them like butter on all the stars until the sky just slips, or looks like toast. http://portlandreview.submishmash.com/submit Sam Newson, Punslinger, Poetry Editor Image by: Sybil…
Sharing by Edward Sage
The tree-huggers gathered on the east bank of the WillametteRiver and held pinwheels above their heads facing Idaho. And Idaho blew back something headstrong and those pinwheels spun like mad. The little crowd got giddy then and a leader stepped forward and said, “The wind is a donkey.” And the crowd nodded in unison and then the wind shifted and brayed from the…
THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO by Elizabeth Colen
I did that thing where I wouldn’t put anything in my mouth for the longest time. So I wouldn’t lose what was left of you. Even after taste fades, and the feeling. Even after thirst makes everything dry. I parch, I desiccate, die; you replace me. I rebuild the house from memory all the way home. The fireplace that holds no fire, the broken…
Freedom by Liang Yujing
Image by: Thomas Hawk At the court of Nanjing, this guy, an adjunct Professor, was announced guilty. The crime he had Committed was organizing a sex party In which he farked another’s wife, while His own girlfriend was covered By another man, and the man’s mistress was mounted By someone else, and someone else’s woman was banged By another someone else. They sentenced him to…