“I grew used to the water in stages and then fell in love with it…” – Julia Armfield, ‘Our Wives Under The Sea’

“It insists. / It isn’t always right, but it insists.” – Brandon O’Brien, “Cthulhu Asks For Kendrick Lamar’s Autograph”

“The old man / hunched over / at the front door / will be prepared / to give you a tour, / but first he’ll ask / Scary, or no scary? // You should say / No scary.” – Zach Schomburg, “Scary, No Scary”

“you’re glad to have a uniform, right? / cool. / find another. some of us live in this one.” – Brandon O’Brien, “the repossession of skin”

“Ever consider the scripture never meant the glories? That maybe we’d be prey to the gods?”- Alex, ‘No Gods For Drowning’ by Hailey Piper

“But there was no goddess of mercy, and Lilac had no time to waste on made-up gods when she needed the real thing.” – Hailey Piper, ‘No Gods For Drowning’

“and so Doc leapt, / he left his feet,” – Ross Gay, ‘Be Holding’

“he will struggle / with demons. He prays but / could continue forever with” – Maya Williams, “A Facebook Message From My Stepmother”

“Jimmy Butler just wants to work hard and be the man” – Trey Kerby, on the founder of Big Face Coffee

“I’ll tell you what – after seeing Los Angeles…well, I guess I seen something every bit as stupefying as you’d see in any of them other places” – The Stranger, ‘The Big Lebowski’