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R O A D S

I remember times

When love and sex went hand-in-hand

When love and sax played counterpoint

When sax and sex blew crazy hot

I remember times

When Lady Jazz reached in my chest

And squeezed til joyous music played

Squeezed til music filled the void

I remember too

When love and hate both clashed and fought

When discord spun unwanted webs

The clash and crash of broken souls

Yet still all roads lead back to you

- by Bryn Fortey

First Night

It’s cold in here.

Is there a party outside?

I wonder what my sister’s doing?

It’s my first night.

My head is shaved and

I’m wearing orange overalls.

It’s dark.

Cold.

No sound.  

-by Gary Cummiskey

Photo Courtesy: David Balilty

Header Lines: Adrian Manning

Cartoon Art: Sub and Nil

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David Balilty is an Israeli artist with North African roots. He was born in Jerusalem in 1971 to a family of artists and musicians. In his most recent work, David has combined three mediums of  visual artistic experience for his abstract painting.

'Merry-Go-Round', Bryn Fortey's mixed fiction and poetry collection, was published by The Alchemy Press in 2014. His work has appeared in a variety of print and online sources over the years.

Adrian Manning writes from Leicester, England. He is also editor of Concrete Meat Press. He can be reached at www.concretemeatpress.co.uk.

Gary Cummiskey lives in Johannesburg. He is a poet, writer and publisher. He has had several chapbooks of poetry published over the past 20 years. His short fiction collection Off-ramp has been nominated for the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award 2014.

Subhankar das is a poet, bookstore owner, and publisher of Bangla experimental materials. He produced six short films that have been honored at international film festivals, and has translated the works of Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski in Bengali.

Nilimesh Dutta lives in Kolkata. He writes very seldom, and writes in Bengali alternative little magazines.

This is my love, my sweetheart

 © Debdatta 'Riju' Mukherjee

i'll not tell her

that my lips were mad to kiss you

All I wanted was to hold your body in my arms and

let my body melt in yours.

Maybe she'd scream, or maybe she'd softly

loosen her fingers from mine

and sob silently.

her trees would whisper to me

GO AWAY!!

her birds would chatter to me

GO AWAY!!

her fishes would laugh at me

GO AWAY!!

and again I have to walk alone, moonbathed

while you give your husband a handjob

and try too hard to think of me

-by Nilimesh Dutta

Nilimesh Dutta lives in Kolkata. He writes very seldom, and writes in Bengali alternative little magazines.

Photo Courtesy: Debdatta 'Riju' Mukherjee

Debdatta 'Riju' Mukherjee lives in Kolkata and barely survives his insufferable job as an IT professional through poetry, photography and whiskey.

The Helmet

      © Silpinwita Das

He didn’t take off his helmet

when he parked his scooter and

entered into the bookshop, where both heavy and light weight

books were displayed in the showcase.

He’s got the wisdom, I thought, a BOOKSHOP is the most

injury prone area in the city where you must

wear a helmet to save your day.

-by Nilimesh Dutta

Nilimesh Dutta lives in Kolkata. He writes very seldom, and writes in Bengali alternative little magazines.

Painting Courtesy: Silpinwita Das

Silpinwita  Das lives in Kolkata and did her Master’s from Kalabhavana, Santiniketan in Graphic art. She is currently involved in an Indian traditional textile art with natural dye called Kalamkari. She can be reached at silpinwita@gmail.com.