Lit at the Mic Anthology Update

Thank you for your patience, anthology submitters. We are working hard to keep the project on track. It will take us many months to catch up, and we don't yet have an estimated timeline. We are unable to respond to individual queries; when we announce our selections we will you know first, and if you'd like to withdraw a piece then, we invite you to do so.

Many thanks to Jordan Shaver for submitting this evocative poem, a collaboration with D. Harley Hall, printed here with permission.

Cradles of Carbon

Cradles of carbon

and caskets of coke,

we were birthed in slag

and baptized in smoke.

We rise with the stippling

deep in our pores.

We ache with the creaks

and cracks of the mold.

Rationalizing our work

with the fantasies we're told.

While the steel keeps us up,

and pressure pushes down,

we rack ourselves straight,

and drink ourselves round.