A Beautiful Day That I Must Go
GRETCHEN GALES
—Sophie Scholl on the morning of 22 February 1943, her execution day
What a morning to be reborn
as fluttering leaflets into hands
of true Germans. God made me
a phoenix of free will, and I will
burn this endured regime ablaze.
If the janitor was just doing his job,
then I will take on a new one:
I wish to be this country’s
bad conscience, plant a seed
in the minds of apathetic passersby
while they sleep and are robbed
out of life like you believe I will be.
God my refuge, Heaven my home
where I’ll be singing your heads
will fall, the sun still shines.
St. Joan of Arc of the Living God, Martina McAteer
Gretchen Gales (she/her) is a disabled educator, freelance writer, and the executive editor of Quail Bell Magazine. Her creative and journalistic work has appeared in Next Avenue, Your Tango, Plainsongs, Plathian Urges, Nebo, and others. Gretchen is also the author of the poetry chapbook Agora (Alien Buddha Press, 2023) and the co-editor of Her Plumage: An Anthology of Women's Writings. See more of her work at www.writinggales.com and follow her @writinggales.
Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine, Issue no. 2: Mystics & Saints. 6x9 paperback, 196 pages.
Contributors:
2026 CLARION POETRY PRIZE
Kale Hensley (Grand Prize Winner), Syed Hashmi (Runner-Up), Sam Beal (Runner-Up)
POETRY
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, D.W. Baker, Kara Barlow, e.l. biddle, Cat Brogan, Linda Bryant-Davis, Joseph Byrd, Halliday Carpender, Sophie Cornwell, Stephan Crown-Weber, Tony DiCarlo, Jané Dowd, Bart Edelman, Elliot, Beatriz F. Fernandez, Gretchen Gale, Charisse Gendron, Z.H. Gill, Ewen Glass, Fernando Jerez, Victor Kamhazi, Justin Karcher, Kristin Lueke, Merlin June Mack, Pip McGough, Mark J. Mitchell, KG Newman, Lisa Perkins, Patrick T. Reardon, jw summerisle, Skye Tarshis, François Tristan L'Hermite, Hanna Webster, Payson Whitwell, Rachael A. Zubal-Ruggieri
FICTION
Jer Hayes, Allen Kesten, Jamie LeFort, Christina Rauh Fishburne & Charlie Rauh, Taylor Thornburg, Fiona Vigo Marshall
CREATIVE NONFICTION
JH Lucas, latrell "lala" novali, Gina Twardosz
VISUAL ART
Edena Alvarado, Julieta Beltrán Lazo, Aubrienne Bergeron, Arch Budzar, Ashley Czajkowski, Lattea Falco, Zander Fieschko, Sarah Goodermuth, Hannah Greteman, Catie Hernandez, Kaitlyn “Thu” Hettinger, Sophia Huang, Jowonder, Martina McAteer, Mina Mond, Brigid O'Neil, Diana Story, Sydney Strickland, Émile Sylvain, Angel Teeth
Issue no. 2 is expected to release in June 2026. Please note that copies are printed-to-order and can take up to one month to be delivered.