Size / / /

The microcomputers producing my tints

are here to provide you, the viewer,

with a whole new interactive experience.

My voice recognition units

enable me to eavesdrop on your critique

and make whatever changes are called for.

Even if you don't know about art

but know what you like,

you can become an equal participant, or more,

in the process.

Think of me as your humble servant,

think of shoemaker's elves,

scurrying about to do his bidding even in the dark,

always true to the Platonic ideal

he dreams of while they work.

Perhaps you thought of microcomputers

as only making their contributions

in places such as the wings of aircraft,

reshaping them in the sky

to adjust to conditions.

Now, however, we can help

the imagination to also take flight.

What's more, we have been able to combine

the functions of creator and critic

into one, much richer, experience.

Even as you move on to the next work,

notice how the changes begin to fill

the corners of you eyes.

Is that your signature starting to form?

As with all the works in this gallery,

the original artist is unknown,

though we like to think of him

not as lost but as part of the foundation:

think of that painter

as simply painted over.




Duane Ackerson's poetry has appeared in Rolling Stone, Yankee, Prairie Schooner, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Cloudbank, alba, Starline, Dreams & Nightmares, and several hundred other places. He has won two Rhysling awards and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Salem, Oregon. You can find more of his work in our archives.
Current Issue
10 Feb 2025

The editors for the AfroSurrealism Special invite you to submit fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
he curls his bicep into ever more and more and more bicep
Hush. He sees through / the static. Softly. It sees him back.
“Please also be reminded of the following prohibited items,” the clerk explains kindly. “No chemicals or toxic substances. No fluids over 1,000 milliliters. No lithium batteries, laptop chargers and power banks, no love, no light, no family, no safety.”
By: Alexandra Munck
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Sandrine by Alexandra Munck, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
Friday: Wolfish by Kritika Kapoor 
Issue 27 Jan 2025
By: River
Issue 20 Jan 2025
Strange Horizons
By: Michelle Kulwicki
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 13 Jan 2025
Issue 6 Jan 2025
By: Samantha Murray
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 23 Dec 2024
Issue 16 Dec 2024
Issue 9 Dec 2024
Issue 2 Dec 2024
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Load More