Issue 23 (2026)

‘LightBright’ by Dea Toivonen
		[{"id":2693,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/birds-of-a-feather-by-khushi-bajaj\/","name":"birds-of-a-feather-by-khushi-bajaj","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Birds of a Feather' by Khushi Bajaj","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:47:37","modifiedDate":"2026-03-01 18:38:42","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-03-01 18:38:42","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":45},"status":"publish","excerpt":"you declare loudly that\nmy hair looks like a nest\n\u00a0\nmaa is unleashing heat\non her head again and again\n\nand I think of a long curly\nline of women picking strands\n\u00a0\naggressively brushing out her waves\ndemanding they turn into still water"},{"id":2683,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/the-secret-inside-my-fathers-guitar-ephraim-scott-sommers\/","name":"the-secret-inside-my-fathers-guitar-ephraim-scott-sommers","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'The Secret Inside My Father's Guitar' Ephraim Scott Sommers","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:30:02","modifiedDate":"2026-03-01 09:07:19","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-03-01 09:07:19","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":6,"sec":15},"status":"publish","excerpt":"Most tiny evenings, in these bars, my lungs\nbecome two boats swelling with wind, two boats\nfloating the ocean of the voice up into the throat\nand into the many melodies I sing to all the elevated\nand berry-colored cocktails and dinner tables, and to all\nthe strangers they will escort into and out of these"},{"id":2697,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/barley-with-its-bend-by-daniel-naawenkangua-abukuri\/","name":"barley-with-its-bend-by-daniel-naawenkangua-abukuri","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Barley with its Bend' by Daniel Naawenkangua Abukuri","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 21:16:04","modifiedDate":"2026-02-27 21:16:09","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-02-27 21:16:09","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":34},"status":"publish","excerpt":"The lampposts along this cracked boulevard request your shadow, as do I. Their cones of light spill open for you (as do I), small sanctuaries of moth and dust"},{"id":2695,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/plea-by-tori-grant-welhouse\/","name":"plea-by-tori-grant-welhouse","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Plea' by Tori Grant Welhouse","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:52:03","modifiedDate":"2026-02-27 20:52:08","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:52:08","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":52},"status":"publish","excerpt":"That suffocation of bedclothes\u2014sheets, blanket, duvet\u2014\ntrapping the body in a dread of moon glare, shrieking owl,\ncreeping midnight omnivores. He wants to die, he insists.\nYour flurry of replies flops like futuring fish. He can only hear\nyour oily skin, sheen of quicksilver stressing the wire.\nYou can't convince someone to live, but you sure can try. You\ncast, and you cast. The whirring of line echoes in the hollow"},{"id":2691,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/the-kiss-i-remember-by-david-radavich\/","name":"the-kiss-i-remember-by-david-radavich","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'The Kiss I Remember' by David Radavich","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:43:53","modifiedDate":"2026-02-27 20:43:57","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:43:57","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":20},"status":"publish","excerpt":"It was a stranger.\nIn a bar.\n\nOn a dark night.\nUnsolicited.\n\u00a0\nI melted like wax.\n\u00a0\nI have remained\nthat shape\n\u00a0\never since."},{"id":2689,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/palm-reading-by-a-damon-cutter\/","name":"palm-reading-by-a-damon-cutter","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Palm Reading' by A. Damon Cutter","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:39:24","modifiedDate":"2026-02-27 20:39:28","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:39:28","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":29},"status":"publish","excerpt":"Hand in hand, hand\nover doting hand,\nfour hands, two\nin a hand, two\nhanded. This is how\nwe landed here, how\ninterdigitating"},{"id":2687,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/dolls-eyes-by-shae\/","name":"dolls-eyes-by-shae","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Doll's Eyes' by Shae","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:35:52","modifiedDate":"2026-02-27 20:35:55","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:35:55","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":28},"status":"publish","excerpt":"she took the berries from the windowsill\nthe white ones blink back\nthey watch me chew my fingernails\ni think about leaving\nthe berries follow me into the cupboard\nthey are humming\ni am humming"},{"id":2685,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/jawbreaker-by-alyssa-avarello\/","name":"jawbreaker-by-alyssa-avarello","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'Jawbreaker' by Alyssa Avarello","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:33:43","modifiedDate":"2026-02-27 20:33:47","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:33:47","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":39},"status":"publish","excerpt":"When you died\nI popped the whole world\nin my mouth.\n\u00a0\nLet it rattle my teeth\nlike a Jawbreaker.\n\u00a0"},{"id":2681,"link":"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/the-conduit-by-marcus-wilson\/","name":"the-conduit-by-marcus-wilson","thumbnail":{"url":false,"alt":false},"title":"'the conduit' by Marcus Wilson","postMeta":[],"author":{"name":"Archive","link":false},"date":false,"dateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:25:40","modifiedDate":"2026-02-27 20:25:44","modifiedDateGMT":"2026-02-27 20:25:44","commentCount":"0","commentStatus":"closed","categories":{"coma":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>","space":"<a href=\"https:\/\/passionfruitreview.com\/category\/issue-23\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Issue 23<\/a>"},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":""},"readTime":{"min":0,"sec":35},"status":"publish","excerpt":"it\u2019s so hard to embrace\nan outstretched arm,\nto reach toward what turns you\u00a0\nin the opposite direction\u2014\n\u00a0\nmeasuring lengths of space\nto keep you at bay,\nso far from the\u00a0"}]