one human gallery

-- after Gracie Abrams

where do we go from a Tuesday 10:45pm when the car outside is covered in ice and your cycle is off

because if i could have the mania now then i could write twelve poems that will save me

because if i could have my madness now i’d be able to find the road back to how

it was back when i was a child it was back where i was a child 

where do we go from now 11:17 on the same Tuesday when i hear my father’s voice scolding me to pray

but i’ve forgotten how to kneel

like i did back when i was a child like i did back where i was a child

where do i go from my life covered in ice is off like a tuesday 11:32 off like my fracturing mind

where did you go, madness when i need you to take me back

to that time i was wild to that place where i was found wild

we are enchanted to meet your work. submission deadline is 1/31/24.

here is the Submittable link.

***

Mirrorball: How Taylor Swift Reflects the Loss, Hope & Love of Millions Around the World

Mirrorball: How Taylor Swift Reflects the Loss, Hope & Love of Millions Around the World is an anthology of writings from around the world inspired by Taylor Swift, her music and her call to fans globally to cry and laugh and dance and mourn and grow together. More than anything, the anthology mirrors the joy that has come from sharing our lives with one another the way Taylor’s lyrics of love and loss, of betrayal and of chosen family, have made all the Swifties around the globe feel less alone.

We are calling for contributions from all nations, all genders, all ages and all levels of fandom.

Whether you have published a dozen books or you are in school dreaming of your first publication, whether you spent hours making outfits to attend the Eras Tour or you were just your children’s driver, whether you danced alongside tens of thousands or cried alone with your headphones on—send us your work.

We especially encourage submissions from writers who have been historically underrepresented in literary publishing.

Guidelines:

We welcome submissions now through January 31, 2024.

Please submit 1-3 poems or prose up to 3500 words.

Submissions may be in any style and format. Please upload your entire submission as one MS Word file. Be sure to include your name and contact information on the first page.

Contributor pay is $50/poet and $100/essay or prose (one acceptance and one pay per contributor).

All submissions must be previously unpublished. We are not accepting reprints for this project.

Mirrorball: How Taylor Swift Reflects the Loss, Hope & Love of Millions Around the World will be edited by Chiwan Choi and Michelle Grondine.

Chiwan Choi was born in Seoul, Korea, spent his early childhood in Asunción, Paraguay, and now splits his time between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. He is the author of 3 books of poetry, The Flood, Abductions, and The Yellow House.