4X2

an online poetry journal

Photo by Melissa Hotchkiss

Resignation

by Laura Dixon

Some things I cannot master. Roofing,
for one. I made it as far as the tear-off,
but tar and nails are depressing

as Greek drama, car commercials,
all designed to teach you
what your best efforts won’t amount to.

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Poem

by Sean Burke

This cloud was refurbished
by an online merchant
who works days as the moon's half-eaten orange

and blinks in near-perfect intervals.
His taste in atheleisure's renown.
He wants you to notice

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About 4x2

Every two months, Barrow Street editors choose four poets who have not yet published a chapbook or full-length book of poems. For past issues, click HERE. Find our complete guidelines HERE.

Repetition ritual for summoning the good witch

by KT Herr

          On a large screen I watch ice-
                              fisted hail shatter a windshield. Something about storm
                                        footage gets the beams of my body
hot. Thrumming. Like they could lift
                              & land in some swifter place. Later, a real storm

     tramples Florida. The air conditioner
                              exhales to a halt, then clears

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Comfort of Home

by Kristen Holt-Browning

Awake at the false hearth, thinking about architecture,
how every structure I create is hostage
to water. The heat of this art is simple:
eyes open, wide through the mourning. This is to say night
comes early now, and I save nothing. Flip a switch
and gas flames to small fire, grazes
artificial wood. We do not have to build

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