The Creation

by Johnny T.

Chaos what else but chaos spinning around my head in the back of the chapel of the school where she pulled me not her first kiss but mine her pulling me alone by the hand my first time holding hands even the soft fingers stuck between mine soft and wet and warm her tongue and not tasting how I’d expected pushing my shoulders back against the wall behind the curtain of the stage up against the mural of Eden Adam in his leaf and the snake resting on Eve’s shoulder what to do with my hands put them on her waist no put one on her waist and one on her cheek trying to breath now move a hand to her forearm by my waist what’s next just kissing today probably guess not undoing the button of my pants that was easy it’s so dark everything by feel like brushing her teeth when the power is out I know the animals are lined up to be named by Adam behind me I’ve seen the mural every week during Wednesday Chapel prayers answered she kneels and bows her head and I look up to heaven constellations are out there beyond the roof I’m seeing stars anyway and sure of Adam behind me and the chaos spins faster until the bang and the flowing waters and the chaos settles and I lift her up by her face and kiss her again tastes different now then sneak out through separate doors and back to class

Lifed Away

by Tomislav Silipetar

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Johnny T. is a poet who lives in the Pacific Northwest where they are working towards an MFA at the University of Texas El Paso and teaching English. When not reading or writing Johnny can be found in the mountains, looking at mushrooms and dancing with trees. Work by Johnny has won the “Mikrokosmos” 2020 fiction contest, and has appeared in “Berkeley Poetry Review”, “West Trade Review”, “Allegory Ridge”, “Cardinal Sins”, “Triggerfish Critical Review”, and more.

In 2014 Tomislav Silipetar graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in the class of Igor Rončević- Painting Department. In 2015 he becomes a member of HDLU. In addition to many group exhibitions, he had a number of solo exhibitions in Croatia as well as in the other countries. He is the winner of the rector’s award for excellence in 2013. The paintings are mostly made in acrylic, and the themes vary from solitude and isolation to the very existence of human existence in the society that condemns. It favors the simple colors, and the line that goes perfectly with the total preoccupation of getting out of the ‘boxes’ of academy.