i am coming out of the closet with an ax
By: Al Salwen
like jack nicholson in the shining
i hack at the door
splinters fly
i introduce myself by my new name:
here’s johnny!
i change into Something irrevocable &
monstrous: overtaken
possessed.
my mother is screaming
she is
[screaming]
as i hammer and chop and
thrust my blade
through the wood [screaming]
emerge
eyes roving [screaming]
teeth wet
my mouth
so wide open
[screaming]
i am
laughing
as she slices through my hand.
Daylight Savings
By Al Salwen
white moon and petals against powder blue
a shard of tooth in the wideskymouth
ten thousand honking horns blaring
redgreengold
the smell of magnolias and cigarettes stuck in the concrete
7pm in april, still warm from the noon sun
—a moment
you almost hope to see
a silverbright plane land with every stalk of grass unbent
or tulips growing up through the sidewalk
or something just as miraculous
as the breath moving free in your chest
Al Salwen is a trans poet, playwright, and fungi enthusiast whose work has been published in A Gathering Of The Tribes, Superpresent, Boston Art Review, and elsewhere. Their play, Soup Play, was produced by SHOW/UP Theater Collective in 2019. They live in Brooklyn with their cat.
Artwork Source: “in the darkness of the night I’m like a torch,” Irina Tall
Artist Statement: I did this work under the impression of a poem by a young writer. But probably, after all, my work turned out to be too personal for myself… two shining burning hands lay a wreath of laurel on the head of a young man, and he becomes a torch himself, he is like the chosen one, but the fire that engulfed him is not physical , but most likely hidden, secret… and at the same time this is his talent…
Materials: ink, paper
Size: 40×30 cm
Year: 2024
Irina Tall (Novikova) is an artist, graphic artist, illustrator. She graduated from the State Academy of Slavic Cultures with a degree in art, and also has a bachelor’s degree in design. The first personal exhibition “My soul is like a wild hawk” (2002) was held in the museum of Maxim Bagdanovich. In her works, she raises themes of ecology, in 2005 she devoted a series of works to the Chernobyl disaster, draws on anti-war topics. The first big series she drew was The Red Book, dedicated to rare and endangered species of animals and birds. Writes fairy tales and poems, illustrates short stories. She draws various fantastic creatures: unicorns, animals with human faces, she especially likes the image of a man – a bird – Siren. In 2020, she took part in Poznań Art Week. Her work has been published in magazines: Gupsophila, Harpy Hybrid Review, Little Literary Living Room and others. In 2022, her short story was included in the collection “The 50 Best Short Stories”, and her poem was published in the collection of poetry “The wonders of winter”.
The Turning Leaf Journal 