By Cat Hannon Blank mindAndWandering thoughts.Of years past.Of fights,Tempers flaring,Of wrong doings.Also,Of cooking my first full meal.Of our dogs: Ricky, Abbie, Peanut.Of the Disney Channel:Wizards; Sweet Life.This does not make upFor the abuse, mental and emotional –Yelling, screaming.Total shut-downs – mind, body, soul;All numb and dead.Now though… I am alive and…
By Hannah Canon Quiet. One word that summed up Amy Holmes’ life quite well these days. It was quiet when she went to bed at night, and it was quiet when she woke up in the morning. She rode quietly in her car on her way to work every morning,…
By Patricia Smith Daylight arrived like a long-overdue visitor. Chris had been awake for hours, listening to the sound of her husband Michael’s steady breathing. Before the day ended, she would become a part of history. Mother Nature, seeming to understand the importance of this day, responded with a brilliant array…
By Todd Howard Two weeks ago, on Friday, Frankie’s ma made pasta e fagioli. Well, she calls it Pasta Fazool. Frankie told me that’s a Southern Italy Brooklyn thing. It’s soup with white kidney beans, pasta, greens, and some other stuff—like lots of garlic. Anyway, Frankie’s mom is the best…
By Kale Meyer These days I find myself thinking back to the summer just before my dad left for good. I guess the old memories make the house seem less empty than it is. I try to fill my head with the pleasant ones. Of me running through the hallways…
By Aubrie Arnold The husband and wife stood outside the multi-storied glass and steel building staring at the revolving front door. The weather was chilly and wet, and they huddled inside their long winter coats—navy blue for her and heather grey for him that matched a small portion of his thinning…
By Matthew Corsi A survival rate does not exist this morning.The wind levies her threat my God, what a mess.A coral reef of death swarms the sky, veins entwined, a single unit of red plushcreates a landscape of rush. Everywhere, everywhere, it becomesthe unit of fatigue. Life is Done for.
by Liane St. Laurent and so the days become less golden. yielding to the weightof their august fruit, blackberry canes lean acutely angled. theyellow cat’s thirsty bones cry from under the forsythia and thewaning moon nods in agreement: soon. but right now there areno vacancies in this carnival of symmetries…
by Kristal Peace A dove denuded by an azure skyGently surrenders herself to her nest.While a falcon above constricts his chestWillfully restraining a primal cry,And indifferent winds, jaded, pass by.When she, naïve, takes flight after her rest,Her dance in and out of the light suggestsThat her body is his to…
by V.J. Hamilton Life would be so much easier if I were a cartoon character. My clothes would always look freshly pressed. Nice and flat, except for a squinchy line or two where I bend my knees and elbows. And my hair. It would stay the same, unless I’m electrocuted…