Decoupled
by Erin Armstrong
forthcoming release: May 2026
It’s 1890. When The Woman takes a job at a one-room schoolhouse in Flagstaff, AZ, she finds that the landscape is the real teacher. In this genre-busting collection from poet, fiction author, and career educator Erin Armstrong, follow The Woman as she takes and leaves lovers, passes in and out of memory, and travels steam trains across time and space. This book holds ponderosa pines and celestial events, quick encounters of love and longing, and the joyful companionship of the self. Hey, it’s subversive feminist romance fiction poetry. What are you waiting for?
About the Author
Erin Armstrong’s work has appeared in FoundPolariods, The Museum of Americana: a literary review, Harmony Magazine, The Truth About the Fact, The Poet's Billow, Don't talk to me About Love, Chanillo, Fiction Southeast, Black Heart Magazine, Ain't Bad Press and is forthcoming in Lost Magazine. She received her MFA from The University of Arizona. When she’s not writing, she can be found hiking and playing Ultimate Frisbee. She lives in Shoreline, Washington.
The Woman
takes The Cartographer
behind the depot;
a train stands like a witness.
She leads the expedition,
traveling like a curious virgin,
clawing through the fear
of being in his arms once more.
She dips her nose to his neck,
crosses the first barrier: ash,
the last cigar smoked.
She inhales deeper, his own musk—
the one he cannot wash off— releases.
She fills her lungs to capacity.
His hands are cuffs surrounding her hips.
He burrows his face close to her neck,
and she can do nothing but pant
as the tip of his nose strokes each vein.