Every tiny paperclip cuts
a little as I roll. I thumbtack my duty
to daddy, learning to say yes, collect
every common desire. Zigzagging
through rooms, I am his invisible
dreaming, a shining sideways spell
fixing everything. To finish the mess

If “Dire, Dire Docks” sounds celebratory of the developers’ achievement, the celebration is earned. Super Mario 64 turned 25 this month (its original release date, in Japan, was June 23, 1996), and it has aged remarkably well. More time has passed between Mario 64 and the present day than had passed between Pong’s release (November 29, 1972) and Mario 64’s. And yet Mario 64, while obviously blockier than current-gen graphics, still looks, sounds, and feels like a modern game.

Summer, Day 15. My crops thrive, every leaf and vine coaxed into dancing with the breeze. The blueberries, tomatoes, and melons are teaching me grace. At dawn, the dew glistens. All day I listen to the carpenter, her hammer chants an old rhythm called “Creation.”

i think about how i told time
before evening cicadas before
when daisy mae cursed me with
bad turnip prices or without
the chimes that isabelle
installed when i sipped tea
and made someone smile

In my dream I did winged eyeliner
on one eye only. It looked ridiculous
and I wondered if I’d forgotten
how to apply it or if I’d gotten too used
to my face naked. Remind me again:

What I find most compelling about “Hateno Village” is how it nods to the Legend of Zelda series’ past without totally bowing to it. Take, for instance, the way the song incorporates the first four notes from the beginning of the “House” music from Ocarina of Time; “Hateno” sprinkles the familiar notes in at around 1:13 like a light seasoning, subtly cuing the longtime Zelda fan to feel at home in the new environment. Essentially, the game creates nostalgia for a place the player’s never been before.

Directional pad, three buttons,
that’s all it was & it was too much
for a game where all there is
is run, run, jump, run, run
crouch & charge & run.

The third thing the guild really, really cares about is if anyone does anything nice for me, specifically. The guild really, really cares about this because I’m a girl.

Someone out there,
a considerable length away
from this tomb’s miraculous
demise, could do
something as well, anything.

the crowd stands to honor fallen heroes
brought to you by RAYTHEON, guiding
missiles to the heart since 1948
you hear that thump, you know you’re alive

There is no beautiful way to tell you I’m depressed. Faced with so many compounding
horrors, my body sets to slow fade, a phantom. I’ve been losing my days running headlong