by Carol Casey The path is trodden, dusty, level.You know it will take youwhere many have gone. Step off—tangles of brambles,sometimes with blackberries,more often with little clawsthat catch on clothes and skin;and tortuous tree roots—inconvenient, sacred data unearthed—subterranean snakelets somehowsifted into snarls for feet to catch.There are stems that twine…
by Chelsea Eccleston The smoke stung my eyes, making them water uncontrollably. It burned my lungs, making me cough and unable to breathe. I crawled along the floor unable to tell where the door was. Was it in front of me? Behind? I was running out of time. I choked…
by Donald Griffin I can see them, the dancers, over there in the distance. Men and women whirl around the fire their silhouettes mimicking every movement upon the lighted canyon wall behind them. Drum beats reverberate through the cool crisp night air, like a thousand hearts beating and pumping life…
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 Jennifer Bower How long have you been hiding in those bushes, friend? Lord, you must be freezing. Come on now. Quickly, quickly! Follow me up to the house. It’s a good thing Sister Draper’s baby was delivered without complication, or I might have been out all evening. Is there…