by Tony Schanuel
to the boy who asked me what you call eight Black men hanging from a tree before answering his own joke with “an Alabama windchime”
in the new / future / better / world
our vocal cords atomize themselves into song
weave and combine and react themselves
into the (Black) black night like threads of powdered miracles
belt a chorus of solar wind
these voices rocking us back and forth / to and from / gentle oblivion / origin
this body was always made of music
and so this universe, too, shall be made of nothing but full-throated abandon
will grow from a starburst in my chest and expand and expand and expand
into nothing but crescendo
this is a life / ballad / legacy without end
this is space / space / that I am allowed to take / this blossoming / seedling / frontier
Logan Klutse is a rising junior at Yale University studying English and Theater Studies, where he is a member of WORD, the oldest and (most hype!) performance poetry group on campus. He calls Lakewood, Colorado, home. His work has appeared in digital exhibitions at the Yale University Art Gallery, and is also forthcoming through Mason Jar Press. When he’s not brainstorming for his latest poem, he enjoys making playlists for his friends, acting with Heritage Theater Ensemble (Yale’s Black arts collective), working on coding and game development, and following the Billboard Hot 100.
Tony Schanuel is an award-winning photographer and visual artist who has fused a professional background in photography, digital technology, and painting and mark making to create fine art that transcends those mediums. His work has been featured in Digital Imaging Magazine, Computer Graphic Magazine, Wild Heart Journal, St. Louis Design Magazine, and is a featured artist in Cyber Palette and Extreme Graphics, two books showcasing digital artists and their work. He has exhibited at the Florence Biennale and his art is held in private and corporate collections including the Fine Arts Museum of Houston permanent photographic collection.