Public Republic

Kenneth Pobo Photo: djsubotage Death is my paper boy. I better remember to tip him. Over.

Jessie Janeshek Photo: hansvink I’ve been lingering over Hilda Raz’s new book because of the breadth and depth of her voice; she’s confident in her wisdom yet open to learn, objective yet welcomingly warm, serious yet light. No matter where her poetry takes us—and it takes us great distances—Raz’s speaker returns to the comfort of […]

Joy Ladin Photo: katietegtmeyer You wipe the woman off your face. She comes away In ochre smears. Traces cling To your lids and lips. You wipe

Christopher Woods In both a literal and metaphorical way, our houses are our second skin. They exist to protect us from the elements, and from others who might do us harm. Houses are no different than the nests and shells and even burrowed holes in dark earth for the other creatures in the world. Houses […]

Carol Berg Photo: lenny_montana Tomas Transtromer writes in the opening poem “Prelude” of his Selected Poems, “consciousness can own the world” and this philosophy informs much of his poetry. Transtromer’s own consciousness deeply engages his world, sometimes with dread as his consciousness reflects Nature’s cold aloofness, as in his poem “Face to Face,” and sometime […]

Aksinia Mihailova Photo: ganmed64 I have been learning how to kite like I have been learning how to be a mother since yesterday, since ever, thirteen years have passed. I can’t do it – neither books, nor people’s advice do help.

Suzanne Nielsen Photo: gregloby Willow whimpers at the bon mot feeder while holding a dip stick that confirms the results: a fertilized copper egg rests in the blue jean seams while Tull is at the trough with snot running down his nose.

Linda Cruise Photo: tanakawho Read Part I The following week, both women—having surrendered control—arrive at the hospital, just as their appointment cards foretold. They’re processed through registration, one form after another, until they reach pre-op and are handed an obligatory gown. Their IVs are started, their wedding bands removed, and they’re obliged to sign the […]

Photo: audreyjm529 We, the editors of the international multimedia journal Public Republic, would like to congratulate our Editor-in-chief on her Birthday. Dear Natalie, May every day increase the happiness in your life the positive energy in your work the optimism that lights up your relationships the tenacity that pulls us forward and the love that […]

“I too will slice open the belly of a great heaving.” Jenny Boully

Katia Delavequia According to the Chinese horoscope, 2009 is ruled by the ox and will be a prosperous year; but getting through it will require hard work, as the ox is a beast of labor. Photo: steev_o Aries: This year will be quite positive for strategic planning and the fulfillment of objectives. Aries people will […]

Renee Rigdon Photo: computerhotline My grandmother always told me I should sing not to the pretty girls but to the heavens. The heavens, she said, would always be there for me, but the girls would just flit in and out until I got some God in my life. She was full of these bits of […]

Donal Mahoney Photo: arwen-abendstern white hips a soft fist for the wrist of your waist black hair in a spill on your shoulders small whirlpools your ankles

Vanya Nikolaeva When images speak louder than words…   Svetlan Stefanov is the winner of the “Modern times” photo contest, which took place in August 2008 in Sofia (Bulgaria). Svetlan works as a web designer and freelance photographer.   “In the process of creating my artworks, my aim is to follow the thin borderline between […]

Photo: dunikowski The only rule is don’t be boring and dress cute wherever you go. Life is too short to blend in. Paris Hilton Women thrive on novelty and are easy meat for the commerce of fashion. Men prefer old pipes and torn jackets. Anthony Burgess

Linda Cruise Photo: Fabien F “There’s the culprit,” says Doctor Wong. “It’s a rather large tumor on your left ovary, measuring ten centimeters in diameter—about the size of an orange.”

Interview with Matt Urmy by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer Matt Urmy is a Storyteller, a Poet, and a Musician. He has recorded and released four independent records. He has also published one collection of poems,Ghosts In A House, with Finishing Line Press. This collection was published in his first term of graduate study at Spalding University in […]

Joy Ladin Photo: vincepal Put that life down. Life is not a knife. No one Eats with a life and a fork. That isn’t blood On its edge. Life has No edge. Life is too dull. Is neither serrated

Joan Gumbs Photo: closelyobserved.com Flannery O’Connor, responding to a letter from an English Professor, once said, “The meaning of a story … cannot be captured in an interpretation.… If teachers are in the habit of approaching a story as if it were a research problem … then I think student will never learn to enjoy […]

Yassen Vassilev Photo: popelegantiarum O crazy royal jester O crippled circus clown O sad harlequin without company O fool of funerary carnivals O crumpled joker without deck