Chase Dimock

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!

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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

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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!

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#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!

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#poetry

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!

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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!

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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

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...

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...

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

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…

What's my favorite poetry genre? Bird Poetry! Here's a lovely bird poem from Agnes Vojta!

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M.J. Arcangelini: “A List of Lessons” A List of LessonsLessons learned too late by boys in old hollows – James PurdyThe boys I wanted when I was a boy stillcannot see me, they were never supposed to.I won’t get all these books read, or…

All interactions are adversarial; the way the
heater and stereo compete for my attention.

New work by MJ Arcangelini from our July Poetry Edition.

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#poetry

Poetry: July 2025 M.J. Arcangelini: “A List of Lessons” Susan Cossette: “Bad Marguerite” Joseph Geskey: “STEM As Part of A Flower” Justin Karcher: “In Buffalo, Our Dads Come…

Check out our July 2025 Poetry Edition, featuring new work by

M.J. Arcangelini
Susan Cossette
Joseph Geskey
Justin Karcher
Robert S. King
Tim Peeler
Agnes Vojta
Jennifer Worrell

#poetry

asitoughttobemagazine.com/2025/07/21/p...

Submit . . What We Publish And How We Publish It . As It Ought to Be invites submissions from both seasoned writers and emerging voices in the following genres: Poetry Art and literary criticism Book revi…

Work is underway on AIOTB's July Poetry Edition, but we have plenty of space for submissions for August and beyond. Check out our submissions page for more details!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/submit/

Since it’s the day after Pride Month, I thought today would be the perfect day to debut my newest publication “After Pride”, featured in the latest edition of Flare: The Flagler Review.

#poetry #lgbtpoetry

Mari Kitina: “Only the Rice Cries” Only the Rice CriesA procession to her death in a long white dress The guests claimit is her lucky day They throw fistfuls of rice for good fortunenot knowingthat the grains will fall onto the kitc…

he swallows the agony
of her kneeled prayer
and vows to suppress
her tears and innate desires

A new piece by Mari Kitina from AIOTB's June Poetry Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/mari-kitina-...

#poetry

Richard Levine: “For Want of Care” For Want of CareWinter found the road map crack in the concrete stairbefore I did. Rain, too. Each cycle in the historyof water to frost and back, widened the gap, until a wedge, unsteadied by less…

Each cycle in the history
of water to frost and back,
widened the gap,

New #poetry by Richard Levine from our June 2025 edition.

asitoughttobemagazine.com/richard-levi...

Poetry: June 2025 James Benger: “Entrance” Barbara Daniels: “White Horses” Cal Freeman: “Always” Mari Kitina: “Only the Rice Cries” Michael Lauchlan: “Trout&#822…

AIOTB's June Poetry is live, featuring new work by:
James Benger, Barbara Daniels, Cal Freeman, Mari Kitina, Michael Lauchlan, Richard Levine, Dudley Stone, Meredith Wattle, and Ann Weil.

#poetry

asitoughttobemagazine.com/2025/06/25/p...

William Taylor Jr.: “Poem for the New Year” Poem for the New YearIt’s the first week of Februaryand in my neighborhood all theChristmas trees are still upand shimmering in the windowsof the houses and apartment buildings.Strings of bli…

We imagine these silly objects
as scarecrows of sorts,

holding the future dark at bay.

New #poetry by @williamtaylorjr.bsky.social from our May 2025 Edition!

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Matthew Pritt: “Joseph F. Seaborn, 1898-1956, Mary B. Seaborn, 1906-“ Joseph F. Seaborn, 1898-1956, Mary B. Seaborn, 1906-Do not think the empty grave sad,for bones do not awaitthe embrace of flesh.Rather, imagine Maryuntethered, a new lifebeginning at 50,leading her…

Rather, imagine Mary
untethered, a new life
beginning at 50,
leading her away from
a tombstone bearing her name,

New #poetry by @matthewtpritt.bsky.social from our May 2025 Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/matthew-prit...

Leigh Parsons: “Still Frozen” Still Frozenanxiety is grippingnot like a Good Samaritangrabbing your desperate handsaving you from a fallanxiety is grippinglike a tasershocking you frozenstillnesshalting the reflex to resistfall…

"anxiety is gripping
like a taser..."

New #poetry by Leigh Parsons on AIOTB from our May Edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/leigh-parson...

Laurie Kuntz: “Sooner or Later” Sooner or LaterWhen you left for a minor errandyou said see you soon,then, flippantly, you repeated: sooner or later,and we are living our soons withoutthought of what is comingwe take for granted …

and we are living our soons without
thought of what is coming

New #poetry by Laurie Kuntz from our May 2025 edition!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/laurie-kuntz...

Leonard Kress: “A Night at the Opera” A Night at the Opera(Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen)We have such great seats at the operain the first balcony and the first thingmy wife asks–to switch places becausethe woman’s perf…

But it’s not until the young fox cub
is captured by the forester and taken
home, penned-in as a pet
that I grasp what’s going on.

New #poetry by Leonard Kress from our May 2025 edition.

asitoughttobemagazine.com/leonard-kres...

Andrea Horowitz: “Behind Midnight’s Curtain I Recompose Your Birth” Behind Midnight’s Curtain I Recompose Your Birth Since changing penswhat I see is you curling up lying down for days cursing the sun whose sudden wholeness chiseled you away I rewrite frigid …

cursing the sun
whose sudden wholeness
chiseled you away

New #poetry by Andrea Horowitz from our May 2025 edition!

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Geoffrey Heptonstall: “Floating” FloatingMarking the steps you take,the cracks in the ground testifyto the years the city has seen.A long line of aspirationis leaving you breathless at the endthat is also an arrival.You tread a pa…

You tread a paradox walking
on the old, uneven road.
Some suppose it an obstacle
as they stagger and stumble
on their way that is sure to be down
because they do not see you rise.

New #poetry by Geoffrey Heptonstall on AIOTB!

asitoughttobemagazine.com/geoffrey-hep...