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  • Issue 22 Fall 2021
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  • Issue 23 Spring 2022
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      • Jeannine Hall Gailey Spring 2022
      • Phil Goldstein Spring 2022
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      • Brittney Corrigan Spring 2022
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      • MICHAEL CHANG Spring 2022
      • henry 7. reneau, jr. Spring 2022
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    • Issue #23 Fiction Spring 2022 >
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      • Srinaath Perangur Spring 2022
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Steven Schroeder 

Another Word that Rhymes with Shame

          
The same damn word that rhymes with got no rhythm but not with not
          to blame
That spells embarrassed for some parlor game but can’t recall how
          many r’s there are
The word that synthesizes every sin in whiskey on the rocks but
          makes it double
That fills whole Hawthorne novels never read but bluffed and called in
          conversation
Defines the introvert who wants to ghost from small talk but whose
          lurch says ghoul

Yet spoken upside-down and backward casts a cantrip that can turn
          left right
Becomes an anagram for hit the shot and blindfolded through pinhole
          ​hoops of flame
An artifice that builds a shield from a bullet and befriends the gun
          that sent it
A code to tell pit traps from treasures on unlettered maps and to
          unlock the crypt
The single word that means a flock of blackbirds and the means to
          sing their flight

Yet still this answer for the stolen riddle story ends in silence,
          awkward silence
Shorthand for wired-reflex card-mechanic prestidigitation bested by
          stick-finger irony
A foolproof mnemonic hook for your true name but mispronounced
          ​again you fool, you fool




​​
--
Steven Schroeder’s first book is Torched Verse Ends, and his second manuscript has been a National Poetry Series and Four Way Books Levis Prize finalist. Steven’s poetry is forthcoming or available from New England Review, Barn Owl Review, South Dakota Review, Drunken Boat and InDigest. He edits the online poetry journal Anti— and works as a Certified Professional Resume Writer.

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  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Masthead
  • Submit
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Submit Here
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Book Reviews
  • Previous Issues
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Issue 22 Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Art Fall 2021 >
      • Bonnie Severien Fall 2021
      • Camilla Taylor Fall 2021
      • Guilherme Bergamini Fall 2021
      • Emanuela Iorga Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Poetry Fall 2021 >
      • Maureen Alsop Fall 2021
      • Annah Browning Fall 2021
      • Romana Iorga Fall 2021
      • Natalie Hampton Fall 2021
      • Sherine Gilmour Fall 2021
      • Adam Day Fall 2021
      • Amanda Auchter Fall 2021
      • Adam Tavel Fall 2021
      • Sara Moore Fall 2021
      • Karen Rigby Fall 2021
      • Daniel Zhang Fall 2021
      • Erika Lutzner Fall 2021
      • Kindall Fredricks Fall 2021
      • Cin Salach Fall 2021
      • Andrew Zawacki Fall 2021
      • Micah Ruelle Fall 2021
      • Rachel Stempel Fall 2021
      • Haley Wooning Fall 2021
      • Rikki Santer Fall 2021
      • Evy Shen Fall 2021
      • Suzanne Frischkorn Fall 2021
      • Danielle Rose Fall 2021
      • Eric Burgoyne Fall 2021
      • John Cullen Fall 2021
      • Maureen Seaton Fall 2021
      • Hannah Stephens Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Nonfiction Fall 2021 >
      • Kevin Grauke Fall 2021
      • Courtney Justus Fall 2021
      • Amy Nicholson Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Fiction Fall 2021 >
      • Tina Jenkins Bell Fall 2021
      • David Obuchowski Fall 2021
      • Thomas Misuraca Fall 2021
      • Aiden Baker Fall 2021
      • Jenny Magnus Fall 2021
  • Issue 23 Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Art Spring 2022 >
      • Jonathan Kvassay Spring 2022
      • Karyna McGlynn Spring 2022
      • Andrea Kowch Spring 2022
      • Layla Garcia-Torres Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Poetry Spring 2022 >
      • Robin Gow Spring 2022
      • T.D. Walker Spring 2022
      • Jen Schalliol Huang Spring 2022
      • Yvonne Zipter Spring 2022
      • Carrie McGath Spring 2022
      • Lupita Eyde-Tucker Spring 2022
      • Susan L. Leary Spring 2022
      • Kate Sweeney Spring 2022
      • Rita Mookerjee Spring 2022
      • Erin Carlyle Spring 2022
      • Cori Bratty-Rudd Spring 2022
      • Jen Karetnick Spring 2022
      • Meghan Sterling Spring 2022
      • Lorelei Bacht Spring 2022
      • Michael Passafiume Spring 2022
      • Jeannine Hall Gailey Spring 2022
      • Phil Goldstein Spring 2022
      • Michael Mingo Spring 2022
      • Angie Macri Spring 2022
      • Martha Silano Spring 2022
      • Vismai Rao Spring 2022
      • Anna Laura Reeve Spring 2022
      • Jenny Irish Spring 2022
      • Marek Kulig Spring 2022
      • Jami Macarty Spring 2022
      • Sarah A. Rae Spring 2022
      • Brittney Corrigan Spring 2022
      • Callista Buchen Spring 2022
      • Issam Zineh Spring 2022
      • MICHAEL CHANG Spring 2022
      • henry 7. reneau, jr. Spring 2022
      • Leah Umansky Spring 2022
      • Cody Beck Spring 2022
      • Danyal Kim Spring 2022
      • Rachel DeWoskin Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Fiction Spring 2022 >
      • Melissa Boberg Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Nonfiction Spring 2022 >
      • Srinaath Perangur Spring 2022
      • Audrey T. Carroll Spring 2022