by Reyna Espinoza I was born of sunrise and pesticides,of strawberries and struggles.I was raised with sunburnsand church on Sunday,where my knees memorizedthe wood of the prie-dieu,where prayers were counted, not answered,and hope stayed lowered,like a head that forgot how to rise. I was cared for by hands in the…
by Michael C. Keith I speak now from under the surgeon’s hacksaw as he removes my cranium to access my brain. I’m an involuntary cadaver donor murdered so that a medical school can reveal the secrets of the human form to its students. They surround my lifeless body as the…
by Michael C. Keith You know those little malted milk balls probably more popular in the 1950s than today? Well, they made me puke. Not the chocolate on the outside but the malt inside. There was something about the crusty centers that offended my taste buds and gave my gut…
by Michael C. Keith Some tortures are physical And some are mental But the one that is both Is dental. –Ogden Nash Amanda was new to Parkside Elementary and Stephen had paid little attention to her until she stood up to answer a question put to the class. It was…
A Colorful Allegory Explorer Louis Pantone found escape in his dreams wherein all living beings were of one color and pigmentation hatred did not exist. Unfortunately, his conscious world was very different from his dream world––mired as it was in rampant discrimination and hostility between contrasting skin tones. His particular…
by Michael C. Keith Douse me . . . please. Douse me now. Strike the match. Let me light the world. (Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death at a busy intersection in Saigon in 1963. He was protesting the U.S. supported regime of Ngo Dinh Diem, which had long…
by Michael C. Keith And then we ease her out of the worn-out body with a kiss, and she’s gone like a whisper, the easiest breath. –– Mark Doty The two-room, third floor flat is ice cold. Its radiators no longer make their loud clanking noise…
by Michael C. Keith I’ve never been crazy. I’m a very good girl, to be honest. I don’t do anything to hurt anybody. – Leighton Meester So I’m heading home after running a few errands and I come to a red light. In front of me is this shiny…
by Michael C. Keith When Nature Changes, Make Lemonade Throughout the autumn everyone waited for the leaves to change color, but they didn’t. The businesses in New England that depended on the revenue from visiting leaf peepers were in a virtual frenzy. This had never happened before. Even in the…
by Michael C. Keith Everybody is dealt a hand of cards. It’s the way you choose to play them that matters. …
by Michael C. Keith I thought a stick was a snake. Until it bit me, and then I knew. …