A review by cathepsut
Uncanny Magazine Issue 41: July/August 2021 by Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Michael Damian Thomas, Lynne M. Thomas

Did not finish book.
I read the four poems in this issues:

Hitobashira by Betsy Aoki
Sonnet for the Aglæcwif by Minal Hajratwala
After The Tower Falls, Death Gives Advice by Ali Trotta
Radioactivity by Octavia Cade

Or I tried, at least. The poem by Ali Trotta didn‘t work for me. I didn‘t get it.

Hitobashira
BY BETSY AOKI | 136 WORDS
Every year the water flows up to the banks and beyond,
reaching slick algae fingers to the sky:

https://uncannymagazine.com/article/hitobashira/

I read this poem twice and didn‘t understand it. I then looked up Hitobashira and learned something new. I didn‘t know there was such a thing as human sacrifices in Japan. Now the poem makes a lot more sense…

Sonnet for the Aglæcwif
BY MINAL HAJRATWALA | 193 WORDS
Classic mum-in-law she was, Ma Grendl:
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/sonnet-for-the-aglaecwif/

Beowulf is a story that keeps on giving! Not the first or only version that tries to shed a different light on Grendl‘s mother.

Radioactivity
BY OCTAVIA CADE | 386 WORDS
Ranunculus aquatilis and radium.
One has petals that are pale in vases and reflect moonlight
the other walks in empty spaces, and footprints glow behind it.

https://uncannymagazine.com/article/radioactivity/

A poem about Marie Curie. Interesting. It makes me realize, that I apparently need poems that not just tell a story, but also teach me new things and make me look up and research details.

Can be found and read fir free here: https://uncannymagazine.com/issues/uncanny-magazine-issue-forty-one/