Punch Drunk Press

Punch Drunk Press is proud to announce our next book, salt of us by ellie swensson. ellie swensson is a vibrant Denver community organizer and a wild and tender poet. In her first full-length poetry collection, swensson explores queer love, southern ritual, and social justice through a lens that is exacting, intersectional, and erotic. Her poems widen the definition of prayer and remind us what…

“The Prince Pulls His Boat from the Chowan River” by Robyn Campbell

The Prince Pulls His Boat from the Chowan River

Outside, the smell of things changes. The slugs, braver at night, drag their shapeless bodies back and forth through the dirt and leave unsteady silver trails.

I’m becoming shameless. You are everywhere now. There is nothing else to see.

My heart is swollen; I can feel it push against the skin like a trapped deer. In dreams, I cut open my chest, pull…

“Big Rig Apocalypse” by Erik Fuhrer

Big Rig Apocalypse

The Apocalypses’ dream of riding a big rig through Heather, Missouri are undermined by the fact that the only license the Apocalypse has is a license to kill— the Apocalypse is a 1980’s Bruce Willis flick stuck in a tower of its own making only it isn’t Christmas and the syringe sticking from its arm is not B-movie grit but a grim reality— a herringbone stuck in the throat that…

“Washington Crossing the Language Barrier . . . ” by David S. Atkinson

Washington Crossing the Language Barrier to Get to the Other Side of Pecos Street

I noticed a new business by the corner where I wait for my bus, but I couldn’t tell what kind of place it was. The only sign read: “Se Habla Español.” I thought maybe they hadn’t had a chance to put up anything about who they were or what they did, so I just went in to find out.

“Buenos días, Señor,” a man behind a…

“Recurrence” by Sarah Alcaide-Escue

Recurrence

*Original text from Clouds by Aristophanes

Sarah Alcaide-Escueis a writer, editor, and artist. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and a BA in English from the University of South Florida. Her work appears in Dialogist, DIAGRAM, Tooth n Nail, Permafrost, Lullwater Review, The Murmur House, and other publications. She is…

“Two Poets Walk Into a Bar” by Eric Raanan Fischman

Two Poets Walk Into a Bar

Two poets walk into a bar. The first poet orders a blind mountain with elephant tusks. But this isn’t a piano bar, and they are all out of ivories. So the bartender mixes up some gravel and grass into a black mug, and spits in a tooth. The poet swivels on his stool.

The second poet steps up to the bar and orders a yellow speed demon. “What the fuck is a yellow speed…

“It’s Early on Bastille Day and I’m Wondering” by Claire Garand

It’s Early on Bastille Day and I’m Wondering

if there is even a parade, though I can smell the crepes, nutella, wine; but I hear nothing. Today is a circle, starting quiet ending quiet too. I found you sitting near a bubbling fountain, I found myself, before, by man-made streams, we saw each other watching steady water from dry land, and walked back through the mass, back where the people stirred

“An Afterlife” by Robyn Campbell

An Afterlife

When you asked in passing if I still think about him, I lied. It was easier than explaining myself. Mostly his face comes in flashes that stop me quick in my tracks, his eyes blue-black as caves.

I consider his death, gnaw on the word until it is flavorless. They hung him, you know that. For shame’s sake they tied him to a tree like a criminal. You say a man chooses his own fate. Of…

Start National Poetry Month right by reading "Dairy Queen Ghosts" by Estefania Munoz.

Dairy Queen Ghosts

the spiders won’t even crawl on this brick wall they stay home with their spider wives and reminisce on the goodflys and goodbyes they’ve said to different people

this town is a graveyard shift with no end and i’m walking Among the ghosts of this dairy queen parking lot and i swear i can hear laughter i can almost see you 5 feet away with a sly smile on your face but i’m the…

Submissions Call: 2019 Punch Drunk Anthology

Punch Drunk Press is currently seeking poetry submissions for our 2019 print anthology.

There is currently no submission fee. More details can be found on the submissions page.

Deadline is April 1.

We highly recommend perusing the online journal and ordering a copy of the 2018 Punch Drunk Anthology in order to get a feel for the kind of work we publish.

Thank you for your continued support. We…

Thank you. 2018 was such a rewarding year for our small press. Highlights, which are too numerous to fully recount, include the release of books by Blake Marcelle, Jack C. Buck, and Varinia Rodriguez. We also released the first-ever Punch Drunk Anthology, which published the works of over 50 Colorado poets. In April, we celebrated our first birthday at with Punchapalooza, a fundraiser and all-day showcase of tons of local talent. Our monthly event Punketry also celebrated its first anniversary this year, as well as a first face-off with rival series Jazzetry at Punketry vs. Jazzetry. There were several special editions of Punketry, including at the Temple Tantrum Festival and the Annual Mutiny Parley.

On our online poetry journal, we have published poets from 6 continents. We take pride in publishing work that is urgent, fresh and supporting diverse voices. Our second Annual Featured Women Writers Contest received countless quality submissions, and the 2018 winners were Katie Marie Carlton, Flower Conroy, KT Herr, and Marthè Ndongala. We closed out the year with selections from guest editors ellie swensson and Emily Duffy of the Bolder Writers Warehouse.

2018 was so spectacular, and we are here to tell you that 2019 will also be amazing and full of joy. An early hint at what is to come is to be on the lookout for a submissions call for the second annual Punch Drunk Anthology and for an announcement about new contests for the online journal. We are also always searching for new opportunities to spread Punketry with Black Market Translation to the world at large. Punch Drunk Press is also always expanding our collaboration with other local and national artists, publications, and collectives.

Again, thank you. We love you. We hope to see you soon.

With sincere gratitude,

Sarah Rodriguez Editor-in-Chief Punch Drunk Press

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Featured image by Andre Benz.

"I Think I Feel Something" by Nathan Dennis explores the depths and drugs we will go to for love.

I Think I Feel Something

You hop into a van — It’s a Toyota Sienna. A gold Toyota Sienna. Fool’s Gold Toyota Sienna. Fool enough to ignore the rolling stranger danger stereotype And foolishly get into the passenger’s seat Of a van with a man you’ve never met. ‘Sup?” Sup. The van reeks. Of course it does. It reeks of weed. Why shouldn’t it? You’re here to buy weed. You’re not really one of those…

“Best Actress” by Jeffery Berg

I uglify myself—make-up, prosthetics, love handles grown. I wrap a kerchief over my fringe. I slap my girlfriend. I slap my son—I slap myself, unhinged, in front of golden-curtained sliding glass in an empty ranch where a botanist shot himself. I will sell this house today. I will clip a rose and shoot a cop in the front seat of his Buick in a Florida wood. I will shatter dinner plates. I will…

“How can a City” by Rachael Gay

not human, not weather, not god, prevent the thriving?

The harvest of a bountiful crop withers on the vine, gone gray with dehydration and simple lack of care leaves torn to delicate lace by the ravenous.

How else should a garden planted during famine look? In the end, it was the city that forced me out through a bottleneck

where six lanes turn into two and the two split mitotic. One end snakes up…

“Transactions at Traffic Lights” by Maya Sharma Sriram

Smooth cheeks, plump breasts Rounded arms, invisible womb And the juncture of my thighs Rebuke me. I look away from the mirror And remember the transactions at the traffic lights. Painted face, sparkly earrings shiny sari, sexy blouse And jingling bangles on sinewy arms. They don’t hide the scars, or the pain, the blame or the shame Of acquired womanhood.

I brave the mirror again I cannot see the…

“How to Get There” by Allison Albino

First, you must wake up, walk past the 7-11, into the outskirts, blow past the toll booths and jump the line at the airport, and when it is time to board, board the plane, fly as long as the day will take you, to where the night is day and the day is night, to where everything around you is something you can’t pronounce, vowels next to more vowels, teeming with markets whose fruits are hot pink…

Punch Drunk Press is currently seeking content for our website.

*For all submissions, please include a bio with any links and a photo of yourself.

*Any submissions that do not follow submission guidelines will be disregarded.

Poetry Please send poetry as an attached .doc document. Include a short bio in your email with any links. Please list “Your name – Submission” in the subject line of the…