Devotional
fiction by Miriam N. Kotzin

The last thing Ellie remembered saying was, “Don’t.” But because it was not her safe word, the people who stood over her did not stop. They continued using her until each one had finished, and by that time Ellie had lost consciousness.
    Nothing like that is supposed to happen, of course.

Poetics
by Kathryn Hawkins

“The words we uttered at the burial
were barely of this world: ashes, dust,
thy kingdom come. It must be magic:
a man inside a box.

How long can he hold his breath in there?”