MAN UP by Frank Modica
MAN UPby Frank ModicaMan UpGood Catholic boys in button down shirtsand blue jeans fought on the school playground,rising and falling in the masculinity standings.This brutal competition snared everyone,large and small, Polish, Italian,or Irish, and...
THE ALCHEMIST, GRASPING FOR MEANING by John Sweet
THE ALCHEMIST, GRASPING FOR MEANINGby John Sweet
incantation for the refused
the rumor of your death orthe lie that is your life
bothmaybeand at the same time
sunlight and famine andunpaid bills
the news of warwhich is how...
A NEW BEGINNING by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo
A New Beginning Of my heartA missing piece.It hurt, it hurt,Oh, how it burned!How it cut—How it tore!But oh that was nothing…When you arrivedI felt it in my body.I cried, I moaned,Shouted, screamed.Forgot who I wasAnd...
MORNING WATCH by Gene Stevenson
A Cold HellA cold hell,fear between the neon,taxicab strangers,killers in trucks,the man around thecorner conceals aknife, like sin.A confrontation,in the hotel room,he & his desperation,thunderstorm-thoughts,battle fatigue,adrenalin the winner,no sleep this night.A light shines,through the...
OUROBOROS by Nathan Tluchowski
OUROBOROSby Nathan Tluchowski
Goodbye Words for the Dead Fella
while I was holler whisp’rinmy wake up midnight moansyou was wrapped up warmand tidy in your so sheer linenwith your wormsmoan groaning your way alongcold cement groundto...
INTEGRATION by C.S. Fuqua
The Last Nail
Wonder,regret,disconnected phones,internet searches,discoveries and obituaries—coffinsand coffinsand coffins—so many coffinsnailed shutby outdated addressesbeside names ina 25-year-old address book.
Old
I
She was supposed to outlive him,but she gave up,left him alone,dependent on visitationsfrom her childrensaddled with...