Popshot Issue 26 - The Chance Issue - SAMPLE

S h o r t S t o r i e s / F l a s h F i c t i o n / Po e t r y

THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF NEW WRITING

The Chance issue is a collection of vivid writing exploring luck, opportunism and coincidence. This issue includes stories ranging from the allegorical to the worryingly real: from the slaughter of a golden goose, to the cruel lottery of procreation, to the cheater whose friend cheats him out of his wife.

POPSHOT QUARTERLY

Popshot is a beautifully illustrated quarterly magazine showcasing imaginative short stories, flash fiction and poetry by the best new writers.

P OPSH OT QUARTERLY THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF NEW WRITING

Joe Dunthorne poem ‘The Spins’

ISSUE 26 THE CHANCE ISSUE

www.popshotpopshot.com £6

WINTER 2019

Exclusive poem by Elise Valmorbida

THE CHANCE ISSUE Issue 26 - Winter 2019

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MOST TERRIF YING THOUGHT Poem by Cr iselda Cayetano Illu stration by Wendy Denissen

the possibilities of the lives that we can live are endless the people we can meet in a lifetime, uncountable the consequences of every choice we make, unfathomable the dreams that we may dream for ourselves, limitless except, for those who have set their hearts on a single entity: a person, an idea, a purpose, or a dream - there is no other your heart has stubbornly set itself on the idea of marrying him, a love so irreplaceable and unforgettable that you would forgo the excitement of a life full of adventure, a life ought to be reimagined constantly that your happiness lies on one out of a billion that if it fails, you may never get it back this is the most terrifying thought, a danger to one's sanity to devote your entire existence to that which you may lose forever

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WHY HEARTS CONTINUE Poem by Janey Coyne-Scat ur ro.

Illu stration by Luc y Sherston

I don't know how the sun convinces the moon to go to sleep so that she can scale the horizon and chase the shadows away each dawn But I do understand that when someone runs their fingers slowly through your hair it's worth more than the diamonds we sometimes put on And I'm not exactly sure how it is that the sand and the water never get tired of greeting each other in the same crashing rhythmic dance on every beach But I do know that the feeling of someone slipping their hand inside of yours as you're walking side by side for no other reason than they love you brings you peace So I'll probably never figure out why father winter allows his frozen solid grey stronghold to be cracked and ultimately shattered every year by such a faint warm light Yet I completely grasp why hearts continue to dust themselves off and search out the chance to try again despite all odds and persist in simply trying to get love right

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THE SPINS Poem by guest author Joe Dunthor ne Illu stration by Wendy Wong

This festive season I will murder myself or you, either swing from the beams like the surume/ Bündnerfleisch/culatello of my native Japan/ Switzerland/Italy or hide beneath your bed then hurt you. You kill me by which I mean I like your jokes. In my country we open our stomachs with a tanto/drink a glass of pentobarbital/wade into the Adriatic.

I love you so much/it hurts/so much I love you.

You make me perfectly happy. We die most nights but no relief. Call me Jun/Josef/ Guiseppe. I do hope I never see you again.

For the love of God, come home: it’s the emperor’s birthday/Christmas/Santa Lucia.

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“I don't like work - no man does — but I like what is in the work — the chance to find yourself. Your own reality.”

- Jo s ep h C o n ra d , H e a r t o f D a r k n e s s

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CHA N CE | Illu stration by B eatr ix Hatche r

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S h o r t S t o r i e s / F l a s h F i c t i o n / Po e t r y

THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF NEW WRITING

The Chance issue is a collection of vivid writing exploring luck, opportunism and coincidence. This issue includes stories ranging from the allegorical to the worryingly real: from the slaughter of a golden goose, to the cruel lottery of procreation, to the cheater whose friend cheats him out of his wife.

POPSHOT QUARTERLY

Popshot is a beautifully illustrated quarterly magazine showcasing imaginative short stories, flash fiction and poetry by the best new writers.

P OPSH OT QUARTERLY THE ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF NEW WRITING

Joe Dunthorne poem ‘The Spins’

ISSUE 26 THE CHANCE ISSUE

www.popshotpopshot.com £6

WINTER 2019

Exclusive poem by Elise Valmorbida

THE CHANCE ISSUE Issue 26 - Winter 2019

Cover.indd 1

24/10/2019 16:52