Bonfire by Rachel Hyman and Tracy Dimond

We take measured steps
towards that which burns.
The centrifuge of the mirror.
Cassiopeia in your throne,
do your milky eyes miss
the signs streaking
across the sky?
Dust fills our shoes
in constellations
on shining days.
The light gnawing
at itself, pulling
my hands at
every wave. Release
further, further—
names burn through
sand, through
pillowcases still
lost in loose hands.
Break. To each
his bulwark. It’s a little
classically tragic
to destroy myself,
but I’m hoping my phoenix
of a heart comes back
to hold you once more,
then scatter.




Rachel Hyman is the co-editor of Banango Street and founding editor of Anthology of Chicago. She is the author of Dear S, forthcoming from Big Lucks in 2015. Other writing has recently been published in Illuminati Girl Gang, The Scrambler, and VECTOR. She lives in Chicago.

Tracy Dimond co-curates Ink Press Productions. She is the author of Grind My Bones Into Glitter, Then Swim Through The Shimmer (NAP 2014) and Sorry I Wrote So Many Sad Poems Today (Ink Press 2013). Her poems and essays have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Big Lucks, glitterMOB, apt, Nailed Magazine, Coconut, Everyday Genius, and other places. She hopes you never feel embarrassed about your favorite things.

Street artist unknown (London 2014).
Photo by Adam Lawrence.

Crater is a electro-pop duo from Seattle, and "Gross Relations" is their latest single released via Mermaid Avenue.