by T.W. Strawhouse Hello all, I knowthis email will probably be as hard to read as it was to write2 A disturbed field, the dirt upturned by plowleft to be, sun-bleached, and its nitrogen depleted is an open invitationfor ragweed, Lespedeza, and thorn-skinned scatters of invasive Bradford pears3 – Using…
by Marah McCarty My paradigm shifted to accommodate you.You have been a ghost all this time, never caught, never taunted, filling the pages of anthropology portfolios, flat-field lands of headstones.You give no referendums before your decisions. Yet, no one can enact revenge upon you. There is nothing of yours that…
by Gloria Cannon (This story contains mentions of abortion.) Gayle was sick with herself and dreaded seeing the day start. How could she not? She was about to do something she had always opposed. The burden of betraying her husband, Derrick, and her faith was a weight too heavy to…
by Marie Soffy Saint Fort Dancing over the edge of a cliff,cliff of a deep, deep oceanon a busy summer day,where surfboards and waves crashing.Peacefully crashing ashoreinto beautiful lullabies in our eardrums.That’s what my trauma sounds like. Sweet howling of the branchesas they move their hips side by side;while their…
by Dakota Jackson The Office of Eternal Collections—better referred to as purgatory, both literally and figuratively, especially to Luci—is becoming quite hectic these days. As the head of the Decisions Department, Luci, (known in his past first as Lucian and later as Lucifer), is in charge of the recently deceased….
By Omolayo C. Akinlosotu Koya For International Women’s Day, Southern New Hampshire University students were invited to submit essays in celebration of women’s contributions to society, with a focus on a particular woman who inspired the writer. This essay was selected for publication in The Penmen Review. Thousands of film…
By Cindy Mercedes She was made of sharp edges and soft curves,eyes a deep brown with specks of gold.She smelled of dew after a rain,of pine cones that littered forest floors. Everything about her was beautiful-from her compassion that blossomed with vibrant colors,breathing new life unto slumbering seeds.To her sincerity…
By Steven Huddleston Beep…beep…beep. I heard it in my head like an alarm clock reminding me of what I already knew. It struck me in the chest when the same octave shot out of the speakers. I skipped to the next song. I hadn’t been home in years. I was…
By Jennifer Ward As a little girl, I was a dreamer. I wanted to be so many things—a teacher, a lawyer, an author, a fashion designer, an architect. Amid these dreams, I always imagined I would be happy doing something I loved. Still, during my first year of college, it…
By Tim Brumbaugh Most people don’t believe me when I tell them that you can hear the snow fall. It’s true. It’s not one of those auditory hallucinations, when your mind convinces you that it heard something that isn’t really there. And it’s not something only I can hear. I’m…