Lying in my attic, Wanting to be interrogated, There is a flower I maimed with a smile, The spirit-longing of a blue-eyed belle And an optimistic boy touching her cheek As if awakened from a Greek enchantment. A moment I’ve never quite experienced before, Except perhaps in a chipped Victorian painting. Maybe there was such [...]
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Lending Myself by Stacy Lyn Mar
I lent myself to the city. Where a plateau of snow capped Mountain peaks rose to meet The brick and mortar skyline. To the valley of malls and arcades And a nightlife where humanity Bent to mend into one another, Hindu, Asian, Indian, Caucasian. I found myself a poet, anew, In a place where the [...]
Coconuts Grow by Patti Parkinson
For extra money, Delores runs a bakery out of her house. She bakes cakes – wedding cakes, birthday cakes and chocolate cakes. German chocolate is her specialty. She spreads the icing smooth as glass leaving only one seam on the side. Before it hardens into a perfect shell, Delores lays a paper doily on the [...]
The Rise Of A Warrior by Theresa C. Newbill
He felt energy pulsating rhythmically through his hands, the Japanese Sword served as the ‘radio’, transmitting a second essence to process, coaxed back from static into alignment. Recalibrating his new perspective, he observed the object before him, his internal clock winding down into a state of alertness. Nature told him soil brought balance, and so [...]
Serenade by Gail Shazor
Hearts of music Vessel love’s shapes Ballads, canticles and arias Songs repertoired as expressions Harmonizing spirits called forth Praise unto hearts beseech Soul melody Serenade Melody soul Beseech hearts unto praise Forth called spirits harmonizing Expressions as repertoired songs Arias and canticles, ballads Shapes love’s vessel Music of hearts Gail Shazor: I am a mother, [...]
Her Name is Aida by Theresa C. Newbill
Her Name Is Aida I walk through the clattering garbage pails where rats have started to converge; the bus stops at corners where even the moon is afraid to change shape as to not cause attention. In a way, I can explain everything by the remolded faces I see every single morning down by my [...]
The Winds of Africa by Patricia Wellingham-Jones
She carried a pinch of his ashes from the Santa Cruz Mountains to Kilimanjaro. Through several security checks the ashes rode in a sealed plastic bag stowed in her purse, tucked under her pillow, carried up the mountain in her bra. Released at the top to the harsh winds of Africa the ashes flew with [...]
New Candles by Megan Baule
“She’ll like it,” he said to the cat on the table. “She made so many every summer, letting them cool in the evenings.” The cat turned its head lazily toward the breeze coming through the window. The wind brushed the cat’s whiskers back and she closed her eyes until only slits of gold flecks showed. [...]
Bippity Bumps by Ashley Harris
Me and Byrd waited on the street corner in front of the old armory for my dad to pick us up from softball practice. He was late. I paced up and down the sidewalk, dragging my bat, while Byrd sat on the curb, picking up small pebbles and throwing them across the road like she [...]
Inheritance by Paula Hayden
Jesse tried to explain to her father. “Opa, I have made my decision. I won’t be coming back to Montreal.” There was silence on the line. Opa’s breath rasped, but he did not speak right way. Jesse hesitated. “Opa? Are you still there?” “Yes. Yes, I am here.” Another deep breath. “Jesse, your mother is [...]
Feed My Narcissism, It’s Starving by Kristin Kimble
You say everyone likes to stare at me just call me a parade I’m in love with being in love with myself I need your admiration yesterday Kristin Kimble has been previously published in Chronogram and elimae and is forthcoming in The North Central Review.
Jeg elsker deg by Lisa Zaran
Thank you, father, for all the books you left me when you died. For all the letters you never sent, each one addressed to mother. Thank you for the 3 shotguns missing their important parts, even the police said they were useless but would dispose of them for me. Thank you for the notebooks of [...]
Mama, That’s All Right by Elizabeth Mattison
Diane Larsen stumbled unexpectedly into her first moment of crisis two weeks after her twelfth birthday. Up to then she had existed comfortably under the sheltering umbrella of her parents’ care in a safe world where defined rule created order and clear structure afforded an easy roadmap against danger. She had no reason to believe [...]
A Departing by Carmen Eichman
I don’t remember his actual leaving. Put on your “pretty” dress and hold your new Barbie lunch box, I was told, its shiny thermos made of glass. I stood before my closet, perplexed. Which dress to pick for a Vietnam departure? How does one, at four, know what the hell Vietnam is anyway? Despite, I [...]
Forever Love by Penny Luker
Such a scrap of life, so tiny and so dark. Torn flesh from your side with no hope to survive, but such a scrap of spirit and a thirst to want and know all of what the world holds, helped little bones to grow. Now proud feline creature like a panther in miniature, no bird [...]
Afterimage by Laura Lynn Gatzow
Mirrors They say that the eyes are mirrors of the soul. What happens when you look into your own? When Jane looks in the mirror, she sees a young woman glaring back with an accusing stare. Her wide-set eyes haunt Jane, sting her conscience like brandy straight up burns the tongue. The woman in the [...]
Young at Heart: The Inner Dignity of Age by Chantelle Steggerda
“I think he might have gone there for something once.” Patricia said this concerning her husband, who was currently at Bergan Mercy Hospital getting a blood transfusion. He had been going there for this purpose for at least the last month, with x-rays on the side. This sort of statement characterized the dementia of the [...]
Baby Love by Penny Luker
‘Not long now,’ I thought, stroking my oversized stomach. I smiled across at Tim and his hazel eyes crinkled up in response. The Nursery was freshly painted and everything was ready. It could be anytime now. Who can ever tell about these things? My new mother-in-law, Millie, had acted stoically at the news of an [...]
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Cover Girl Stephenie Meyer: An Interview (Part One) with Deb Smouse
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Live Alone and Like It The Classic Guide for the Single Woman
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My Plan to Thrive while I Deal with Grief this Holiday Season
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Life, Love and Lesson Plans by Wynn Godbold
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Under the Bed by Jody Keisner
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