Stacey Mann

Autumnal
dehydrated leavesbrush indifferent rubber,asphalt ex-loversperpetually collide –a honey bee stings and dies.

Siddhartha's Jisei
impossible stars,fiery crimsonorbs wrapped in
purple jute paper,shadows, sliversof the moon
bottled in acrystal elephant,the end
of everyonecollects ina copper pot.

Ten Ponderables
1. Silence on the field before Antietam is the same as silence after.

2. The contagion of sighs.

3. A woman sprinkles sea salt on a slug; it mucus-slick propels forward and dissolves into a protein-enzyme slime.

4. All’s fair in love and sudoku.

5. Studies show a fourth of students aged between eighteen and twenty-five contracts an STI, including HPV and HIV, the more malignant acronyms.

6. Frustration is a lilac scented candle.

7. Society does not allow for sentimental conversation referencing prohibition or contemporary art.

8. The cleanest type of power known to humankind is photosynthesis.

9. Two guys walk into a bar. The rest doesn’t matter because the third was wearing an IED.

Stacey Mann is a Master of Theological Studies student at Harvard Divinity.