[{"id":26581,"date":"2026-08-15T10:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/?p=26581"},"modified":"2026-08-16T15:21:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:21:45","slug":"northern-tallgrass-prairie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/archives\/26581","title":{"rendered":"Northern Tallgrass Prairie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Like the birds we do not see these days, we are few and far between. Like the fish we do not eat, my lips are bleeding. Our windshields wear nothing, breaking no wind. Where once we saw hawks, we now see empty thermals. In every city you can pick us out, like Perrier bottles and biodegradable bags: pigeons are just loveless doves, rats are just hungry children. Where once the skies turned black with flapping, now we have nothing but sun. Upon this sun we drew our prairie; into this sun we disappeared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should have liked to see this thing myself one day, this quiet wild lost to time. I see the world but once at a time these days, and once time is over. Once is not enough for anyone. I once saw a single bird fall out of a tree. The leaves shuffled, but stayed where they were. I called to it; it went unanswered. In the past, they called this nature. Today we call it inevitable. I once dreamed I ate a field of grass. I blew up like a cloud, and from my open mouth came rain. And like the fish who can not feel pain, who feel excruciating pain, we do not feel the rain. Like the bugs that do not paint our windshields, we will not be easy to miss. I have hated us once; I will miss us again. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like the birds we do not see these days, we are few and far between. Like the fish we do not eat, my lips are bleeding. Our windshields wear nothing, breaking no wind. Where once we saw hawks, we now see empty thermals. In every city you can pick us out, like Perrier bottles and biodegradable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":893,"featured_media":26584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[206],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26581"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26581"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26715,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26581\/revisions\/26715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":26506,"date":"2026-08-15T10:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T14:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/?p=26506"},"modified":"2026-08-11T16:27:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T20:27:30","slug":"apricots-on-homecoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/archives\/26506","title":{"rendered":"Apricots on homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Just back from away from the red rock, my black
\nlacquer fresh, a troika scene from Pushkin racing across my back.<\/p>\n\n

Back from a one-way student exchange to the Soviet Union.
\nWe wore orange pioneer scarves, ate spoiled meat and black<\/p>\n\n

potatoes, wandered alone through the Hermitage or crept
\nbarefoot under stars to float hand in hand in the Black<\/p>\n\n

Sea to bring peace or something.
\nA babushka tried to untuck my black<\/p>\n\n

bubble miniskirt, running kind hands over my thighs
\nin consternation, swiftly caressing up my back.<\/p>\n\n

A doctor in the underground club playing \u00c5\u043a\u0432\u0430\u0440\u0438\u0443\u043c
\nsaid please help us please come back<\/p>\n\n

take my address. But I lost it looking for strawberries
\nor anything fresh in a city that only sold two crookback<\/p>\n\n

green suitcases. I came home hungry, unable
\nto explain the whip crack of lampblack<\/p>\n\n

lies, invented rivalry and pinching
\nwant, went out to the back<\/p>\n\n

garden to eat ripe apricots alone, naked and unwashed.
\nMoonlight pooled in mouthfuls taken by the red winged black-<\/p>\n\n

birds while I was gone. Silver light traced me
\nhanging on to the tree, thunderclapped. Horizon flashing black.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just back from away from the red rock, my black lacquer fresh, a troika scene from Pushkin racing across my back. Back from a one-way student exchange to the Soviet Union. We wore orange pioneer scarves, ate spoiled meat and black potatoes, wandered alone through the Hermitage or crept barefoot under stars to float hand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":893,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[206],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26506"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26615,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26506\/revisions\/26615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":26484,"date":"2026-08-15T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/?p=26484"},"modified":"2026-08-11T16:21:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T20:21:40","slug":"sightseeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/archives\/26484","title":{"rendered":"Sightseeing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

the last time my father visited me in l.a. <\/span><\/p>\n

he stayed at the holiday inn express<\/span><\/p>\n

hermosa beach and we ate<\/span><\/p>\n

at a mexican place called el gringo. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

that saturday, i picked him up early <\/span><\/p>\n

and we drove north on the 110 freeway <\/span><\/p>\n

to griffith park, winding our way <\/span><\/p>\n

up the mountain and parking <\/span><\/p>\n

in the observatory lot. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

i wonder if we\u2019ll see any movie stars,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

he said, getting out of the car, <\/span><\/p>\n

already thin from the cancer <\/span><\/p>\n

that would kill him. i think <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

they filmed m.a.s.h. somewhere <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

up here, <\/span><\/em>i said, starting for the trail.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

we hiked briskly for the most part, <\/span><\/p>\n

not to the top but to that first lookout<\/span><\/p>\n

opening onto the hollywood sign,<\/span><\/p>\n

where i snapped a picture of him <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

snapping a picture of that famous <\/span><\/p>\n

tinseltown landmark, a tuft <\/span><\/p>\n

of black mustard (actually yellow) <\/span><\/p>\n

brushing against his waist as he <\/span><\/p>\n

flared his elbows and framed the shot. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

when we got back to the car, he said, <\/span><\/p>\n

i\u2019m glad i got to see that, doug, <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

and nodding, i said, me too, dad.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

later that year, <\/em>as my daughter <\/span><\/p>\n

scrolled through the images on her <\/span><\/p>\n

grandfather\u2019s camera, she called out, <\/span><\/p>\n

look! here\u2019s one of the hollywood sign.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the last time my father visited me in l.a.  he stayed at the holiday inn express hermosa beach and we ate at a mexican place called el gringo.    that saturday, i picked him up early  and we drove north on the 110 freeway  to griffith park, winding our way  up the mountain and parking  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":893,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[206],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26484"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26708,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26484\/revisions\/26708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":26460,"date":"2026-08-15T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/?p=26460"},"modified":"2026-08-11T16:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T20:30:08","slug":"49-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/archives\/26460","title":{"rendered":"49.3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

Art<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Selections from “Last Map”<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Joe Sacksteder and Amy Sacksteder<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/div>\n
\n

Fiction<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Manatees Don\u2019t Dream of Electric Boats<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Bethany Bruno<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Soapmakers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jennifer Jope<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Cutback<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Anna Sheffer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

solid states<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Orchid Tierney<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Northern Tallgrass Prairie<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Daniel Uncapher<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/div>\n
\n

Nonfiction<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Narcissus and the Octopus<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Adelia Gregory<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Poetry<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sightseeing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Doug Fritock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Apricots on homecoming<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Tracy Grikscheit<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ars Poetica in Hiding<\/a><\/p>\n

Contrapuntal to Pleasure<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Megan Hall<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mars Exit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jose Hernandez Diaz<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

poem for us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Jeremy Teddy Karn<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Gemini Pastoralism<\/a><\/p>\n

Inventory of Blades<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ben Kline<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

After They Ask Why My Accent Isn’t Thicker<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Marie Kressin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The End of Days<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Hannah Kroonblawd<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Justin<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Giljoon Lee<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The shark teeth in the anthills of my old neighborhood suggest this town used to be underwater<\/a><\/p>\n

What is it about double-wides & hydrocodone?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

S.A. Leger<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

NOTES ON INTIMACY<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

JoAnna Mak<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[NU WAVE CLUBBER LOOKING FOR PART TIME LOVER]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Marc-Anthony Valle<\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Notes on Contributors<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our latest digital issue features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and artwork from: Adelia Gregory, Jose Hernandez Diaz, Ben Kline, S.A. Leger, Joe and Amy Sacksteder, Orchid Tierney, and Daniel Uncapher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":893,"featured_media":26640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,105],"tags":[206,122,118],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26460"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26460"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26709,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26460\/revisions\/26709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejournalmag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]