THE WIDOW’S SON By Sandra Kolankiewicz
THE WIDOW’S SONBy Sandra Kolankiewicz
Aunt Ann
Even nurses feared her swollen body.The neighbors brought balloonsand left quickly.Each night her husband strolled through the automatic doors,slapping a check book against his palm.She lost her hair and...
IF THE TRUTH BE SAID By Patrick Erickson
IF THE TRUTH BE SAID Patrick Erickson
IF THE TRUTH BE SAID and static arises to cause grievancesamong the several partiesof a multi-party line
or if a single beamof fiber optic cablecarries multiple parties
and the resulting staticcauses grievancesand sparks...
TURN AWAY By Andy J Hale
TURN AWAYBy Andy J Hale
Tears of Stone
Arrival in the valley of the sunA bowl of mountains burningA drink of water filled with fireFor my flower of the prairie
If you want me to cryTell me...
(DIS)AMBIGUATION By Sarah Kohrs
(DIS)AMBIGUATION
By Sarah Kohrs
(DIS)AMBIGUATION
It began with the forgetting.Sunlight sparked off keysDangling eye-level near the door;
Yet I walked right by and hadTo come back again whenThe car remained silentDespite being...
HALF IRON, HALF OAK By Simon Perchik
HALF IRON, HALF OAKBy Simon Perchik
*Half iron, half oak, the bedall night honed on what went wrong–it’s an axe, striking upside down
though you sleep facing northside by side an empty dressshaped into bulls and...
HIGH PLACE PHENOMENON By Hailey Cragun
HIGH PLACE PHENOMENONBy Hailey Cragun
High Place Phenomenon
Along the red cliff sidewith staggering ten story dropswe cling to a chain, silver and black,its mark worn into the stone.
The August sun warms the sandstonewhen my hand,...
OFF-BEAT By Julianna Bjorksten
OFF-BEATBy Julianna Bjorksten
AT SMALLS
On the night of starry time-bomb and twinkling blunderCaught in the stagnant bulk of two page compositions and futile coffee treksShared sheets and tender televisionWas a moonlit crater —a plungeunexplored
I slipped...
A SIMPLE PROPOSITION By Evyn McGraw
A SIMPLE PROPOSITIONBy Evyn McGraw
WakeWith twisting muscles I whippedMy body into shape,I ran like a machine,Pumping down the pavement through the dead winter wood,When water’s whisper hissedMy name.
The call led me off the path,Into...
GROUND LEVEL By Gabby Shaulis
THE PUSHBy Clay Reed
DynamicAfter Denise Duhamel
Having a child changes a relationship,at least that’s what our friends with childrenhave told us several times.“It changes the dynamic!” they say,acting as if they are letting us inon...
FISHING LOCK NESS By Sam James
FISHING LOCK NESSBy Samuel W. James
Fishing Loch Ness
the stones are cool grey or hairy brown;the water barely darkens themfor yards and yards out
we argue about how deep it is,though it could certainly hide a...