As It Ought To Be

Ruth Bavetta: “My Father’s Shirts” My Father’s ShirtsEarly mornings, I woke to the creakof the ironing board, the smell of hot cotton,my mother humming “O, Sole Mio,”as she hurried to iron a clean white shirtin time for my father to…

New #poetry by Ruth Bavetta from the November Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/ruth-bavetta...

Poetry: November 2025 Ruth Bavetta: “My Father’s Shirts” Jacob Butlett: “Feeding Time at the Zoo” John Compton: “the musical of the bell jar” A.M. Hayden: “Ghost Leg” Joshua Lillie: “What Becomes A Tumblewee…

Our November 2025 Poetry Edition is live, featuring new work by:

Ruth Bavetta, Jacob Butlett, John Compton, A.M. Hayden, Joshua Lillie, Joseph Mills, J.R. Solonche, and Alicia Wright.

asitoughttobemagazine.com/2025/11/29/p...

#poetry

Abner Oakes: “Floating Teeth” Floating TeethThis poem, shiny and straightat the start, soon a mouthful.I yank lines, grind awayat first words, milk teethof the draft. Uncle Bob floatedteeth, arriving at each barnwith his bucket…

"running fingers over each tooth,
raggedness gone, transition
from one to the next like precise

words that keep the hard work
to themselves..."

New #poetry on AIOTB by Abner Oakes!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/abner-oakes-...

Andrew Mulvania: “Self Portrait As The Grasshopper Trapped Inside Van Gogh’s Olive Trees” Download About the Author: Andrew Mulvania is the author of a collection of poems, Also in Arcadia, published by the Backwaters Press (an imprint of The University of Nebraska Press). Recent poems …

New poetry on AIOTB by Andrew Mulvania!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/andrew-mulva...

#poetry

Lindsay McLeod: “Sleeping Dogs” Sleeping DogsThere is a subordinate hush beneath the silence like father’s anger here in the long quiet dark of this country road that seems suspect soft and warm as a lamb yet we both know f…

"There is a subordinate hush beneath the silence"

New poetry on AIOTB by Lindsay McLeod!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/lindsay-mcle...

#poetry

Madison Isbell: “corpus christi, early march” corpus christi, early marchdusty instantcoffee greets uson a cloudycoastal morning. this gulfsmells sour after heavy rain.i grew up collectingshells from a foamyshore further east—so we do ittogeth…

dusty instant
coffee greets us
on a cloudy
coastal morning. this gulf
smells sour after heavy rain.

New poetry by Madison Isbell on AIOTB!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/madison-isbe...

#poetry

Paul Ilechko: “Memories of a Memory” Memories of a MemoryMemory is the easiest thing to rememberwhen once again there is somethingyou can’t quite bring in while utterlycertain that you knew it onceand if you stop trying quite so hardi…

"you’ll feel the whirring of the cogs
as it settles quietly into a safe warm place"

New work by Paul Ilechko from the October Poetry Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/paul-ilechko...

#poetry

Sam Culotta: “A Winter Coat” A Winter CoatEmbedded in the textureof the fading pastever present in the patternof the fabric, ever presentin the material of memoryin which I wrap myselfwhen the wind turns chillwhen the sunflowe…

last winter's coat opened
in Fall of the year
holds forgotten crumbs
of crushed amber leaves

New #poetry by Sam Culotta from our October Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/sam-culotta-...

Poetry: October 2025 Sam Culotta: “A Winter Coat” Paul Ilechko: “Memories of a Memory” Madison Isbell: “corpus christi, early march” Lindsay McLeod: “Sleeping Dogs” Andre…

AIOTB's October 2025 Poetry Edition is live!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/2025/10/29/p...

#poetry

AIOTB is open for submissions! Check out our guidelines below:

asitoughttobemagazine.com/submit/

Jeremy Jusek: “Prescriptions Written in Calligraphy” Prescriptions Written in CalligraphyThe pharmacy across from the rec centerjust started doing it—flourished capitals,swans in the tails of the y’s,the refill date looped like a lasso.But no matter …

But no matter how the ink curls,
the pills still rattle in their plastic drum,
chalk dust lining the childproof lid
like it’s been counting the days, too.

New work by Jeremy Jusek from our September Poetry Edition!

#poetry

asitoughttobemagazine.com/jeremy-jusek...

Cindy Rinne: “Ghost Turkey” Ghost TurkeyUnder lace stars andembroidered birds,a turkey ghost is proudhe sacrificedhimself for a good cause –a mountain lion’s hunger.His caretaker was dreamingof a shaded gardenwhere people cou…

New poetry by Cindy Rinne from our September edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/cindy-rinne-...

#poetry

Patricia Russo: “The Dead Time Traveler” The Dead Time TravelerThe dead time traveler keeps disappearingwhen we try to bury herThe hole’s been ready for daysWe’ve followed the instructions on the sticky notesthat appeared on the kitchen w…

"The dead time traveler keeps disappearing
when we try to bury her"

New work from our September Poetry Edition by Patricia Russo!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/patricia-rus...

#poetry

Poetry: September 2025 Susan Cossette: “Five Things I Will Do in Aegina” Tony DeGenaro: “Flight Path” John Grey: “On a Funeral Pyre” Jeremy Jusek: “Prescriptions Written in Calli…

Our September Poetry Edition is live! Check out new poems by:

Susan Cossette, Tony DeGenaro, John Grey, Jeremy Jusek, Cindy Rinne, and Patricia Russo

asitoughttobemagazine.com/2025/09/27/p...

#poetry

AIOTB’s Nominees for the 2026 Best of the Net Anthology As It Ought To Be is proud to announce our nominees for the 2026 Best of the Net Anthology. Laurel Benjamin: “Motel Room Without a Night Light” Jane-Rebecca Cannarella: “Quilted R…

AIOTB is proud to announce our nominees for the 2026 Best of the Net Anthology

Paul Jones: “Two Flamingoes at Pea Island Reserve” Two Flamingoes at Pea Island ReserveA named storm brought them here,pink pair walking the pier,reed thin birds built backwards,both in legs and bent beaks.They deftly lift and landin the crab-rich …

Their necks intertwine like
some comic valentine;
your hand snakes into mine.
We two are like those two,

A new poem by Paul Jones on AIOTB!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/paul-jones-t...

#poetry

John Brantingham: “The Greening of Creatures” The Greening of CreaturesYou don’t imagine green bees until you spot one landing on the yellow rose; theymight be common, but you’d never heard of them, never considered their metal bodies.Now that…

New prose poem by John Brantingham from our August Poetry Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/john-brantin...

#poetry

Sarah Angstadt: “Counterproductive Side Effects” Counterproductive Side Effectsswallowing a pair of sleeping pillsslowly, deliberately,that unspoken questionunseen but perpetuallooming, cradled in the bottlekeep any thought at bay for the moment.…

that unspoken question
unseen but perpetual
looming, cradled in the bottle

New #poetry from Sarah Angstadt on AIOTB!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/sarah-angsta...

Samuel Prestridge: “My Father, Hailing from Ignorant Hill, Texas…” My Father, Hailing from Ignorant Hill, Texas, Would Drive at 100 Miles an Hour toClean Fouled Spark Plugs, Piston Heads on the Highway from Birmingham toHamilton, AlabamaMy father burned carbon off…

I used to think he was trying to outrun the backseat,
but I don't think he thought of kids, my mother,
white-knuckling the ride, or traffic ahead.

New #poetry from Samuel Prestridge on AIOTB!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/samuel-prest...

J.D. Isip: “Triceratops” TriceratopsLet go of this obsession with bones, they say. Howcan one look away from the shadow cage of ribs,or the frill like a dark sunset, the negative of itwalking alongside, two beasts lumberin…

"in the absence of life, of muscles and skin, history,
all of it, ever, told in what is left, black and white."

New work by @jdisip.bsky.social from our August Poetry Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/j-d-isip-tri...

Poetry: August Sarah Angstadt: “Counterproductive Side Effects” Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal: “Hearing Aid” Sue Blaustein: “Serving Orders at Brother’s Foods” John Brantin…

Proud to debut our August Poetry Edition, featuring new work by:

Sarah Angstadt, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Sue Blaustein,
John Brantingham, J.D. Isip, Paul Jones, Samuel Prestridge, and Diana Rosen

asitoughttobemagazine.com/2025/08/24/p...

#poetry

Justin Karcher: “In Buffalo, Our Dads Come Back From the Dead to Watch the Big Game With Us” In Buffalo, Our Dads Come Back From the Dead to Watch the Big Game With Usand their drinking becomes ferociouswhenever Josh Allen starts fighting for his life.“Nothing ever changes,” my dad says af…

“Nothing ever changes,” my dad says after we lose"

A new poem by @justinkarcher.bsky.social from our July 2025 edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/justin-karch...

#poetry

Always late to my own party. I wrote my first poem ever, about the state of things.
Thank you, @asitoughttobe.bsky.social.
asitoughttobemagazine.com/jennifer-wor...

Susan Cossette: “Bad Marguerite” Bad Marguerite-for Radclyffe Hall,1880-1943If there were others like me, they were buried away with spinster aunts in the Cotswolds, cowering in drafty mahogany chambers. I am Radclyffe Hall, but y…

She would not play mother to cipher-faced baby dolls
presented to her by absent parents.
When Nanny was not looking,
Marguerite tossed the blank-eyed puppets into her fireplace.

New #poetry by Susan Cossette on AIOTB!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/susan-cosset...

Robert S. King: “Behind Some Photographs” Behind Some PhotographsThe clearest old Polaroids have stains,a fog of black and white, or a smearof hues like watercolors in rain.Could a stranger know the storybehind the poser’s damaged wo…

Perhaps the wink in the eye is just
the camera flash. In a moment
frozen in the past, no old gray hair
may blow out of place.

New #poetry by Robert S. King from AIOTB's July Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/robert-s-kin...

Tim Peeler: “Before the Storm, the Hawks” Before the Storm, the HawksFor Mike JamesIt’s so hard to say good-byeTo a friend about to die.The hawks soared this afternoonAt least a dozen,Crossing the winter skyFrom Baker’s Mountain,Dipping ov…

New on AIOTB!

A poem in memory of Mike James, by Tim Peeler

asitoughttobemagazine.com/tim-peeler-b...

#poetry

Jennifer Worrell: “Behind the Lines” Behind the LinesI read the books they tried to burnThey taught me That yes, actually, this is exactly what AmericaIsAlways has been from the start.They didn’t explain what the deniers are drinkingA…

"I read the books they tried to burn..."

New poetry by Jennifer Worrell from AIOTB's July Edition

asitoughttobemagazine.com/jennifer-wor...

Agnes Vojta: “Refuge” RefugeIn the dunes by the lagoon,the plovers scurry on the sand, like cotton balls pulled on a string.The man with the binoculars patrolsthe beach, watches over the colony.He counts hatchlings, fle…

In the dunes by the lagoon,
the plovers scurry on the sand,
like cotton balls pulled on a string.

New work by Agnes Vojta from our July Poetry Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/agnes-vojta-...

#poetry

Joseph Geskey: “STEM As Part of A Flower” STEM As Part of A FlowerNight sky of wonder before learningphysical laws governing its existenceafter being encouraged to wish upon a staras an impressionable child. Newton’s Lawdiminishing the pul…

For now, a local meadow remains undeveloped,
no generals wargaming its strategic importance.

New work by Joseph Geskey from AIOTB's July Poetry Edition

asitoughttobemagazine.com/joseph-geske...

#poetry