The Cardinal Anthology: Vol. 2 2023

By Ellerslie Books

The Cardinal Anthology is a collection of social, reproductive, environmental, and economic justice themed essays, poetry, and short stories written by authors from around the world.

Contributors include: Stewart Acuff, Matthew D. Albertson, Devonne Brown, Con Chapman, Binod Dawadi, Alshaad Kara, Carol Marujo, Brett Lewis Morri

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ellerslie Books
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088141755

Book preview

The Cardinal Anthology

The Cardinal Anthology

The Cardinal Anthology

Vol. 2 2023

H.S. Leigh Koonce, Editor

Ellerslie Books

Contents

Definitions

The Fifth Annual Extinction Ball

Poetry in Appalachia

Underground

Voices of Environment

At the back

Wholistic Philautia

Gunshot

My First Abortion

Rights

Microbes: Keystone Species and Eco-System Collapse

Untitled

Bottom line

At the Food Bank

Rebel by Sunrise

Untitled

Hate and Heaven

Νεκρόβίωμα (Necrobiome)

Untitled

Contributors

Copyright © 2023 by Ellerslie Books

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Printing, 2023

Definitions

social justice: (noun) justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.

environmental justice: (noun) the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

reproductive justice: (noun) the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.

economic justice: (noun) a set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions.

The Fifth Annual Extinction Ball

Brett Lewis Morris

In a fantastic future, a young activist hacker sneaks into a corrupt energy corporation’s annual virtual gala with malicious intent.

Up the download, there she goes 

solid essence dissolving 

Digital, astral 

intentional decoding 

all thoughts shedding and merging 

little mental push and pull 

virtual re-coding 

spread out to infinity 

confined to the tip of a nail 

slipping through the eye of a needle, she

is left naked and blurry on the level

with a palate and her imagination. 

I would like to be a pika, please.

Ask and it shall happen. 

A book in the wall opens, 

its yellow pages blooming. 

Pika tries to focus 

but she’s irritated and fuming. 

She rings the operator 

who whisks her to reception. 

The floor is frozen 

but moving in a thousand directions. 

In the shadow of a yacht she docks 

below its massive mirrored sails, 

engraved along the side of the hull

is the logo of a Solar Whale. 

The yacht ejects golden glowing starfish

eyes wide and faces the size of fists,

they make their announcement in unison

so inviting and calm, "Welcome, one and all

to the 5th Annual Extinction Ball." 

Pika tiptoes down fiberglass clouds

careful her heels don’t make a sound.

The crystal disco ceilings are flaking,

between them silver porpoises slipping,

rainbows painting themselves across the floor.

She has little patience for the show anymore

because