Featured Writing

Flock of chickens

A Tragic Miracle

by Courtney Williams Carter Cast of Characters Pearl: mid-forties solid, strong physically and emotionally, the oldest sister of 3, and the leader of her family. Benjamin: Pearl’s husband, mild-mannered, supportive, loving, and a hard worker. Ginger: preteen girl, sullen, mischievous, intelligent, wears black and a Discman at all times. Jordan: three-year-old boy, active,…

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Posts Tagged Penmen Review

A Drop in the Ocean

by Fabrizia Faustinella One of my attending physicians, during residency, made sure that every patient who had a birthday while in the hospital would be celebrated. He would step inside the room, followed by students, residents, and nurses and present the patient with a card, a cupcake with candle, and…

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Jailbait 8

by Scott Christopher Beebe it’s been far too long since I’ve seen the sun drift pastyour wide-open eyes matters for naught thatwhen we last spoke, you had said,“Hate the way (I) play this forever dream”of which you’d never seemed apart of its themed scheme each night, we would lieour heads…

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Extinction

by Olivia Delgado In the metallic We washed ourWeeks’ worth of ache, As The boy played the coin machine like it was a savior.

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First Date

by Jerri Jerreat The two women sat down. Karin had changed from ripped jeans into a long skirt, then back to dark jeans with a funky red and pink tee. She’d found an old eyeliner stick and used it. Cautiously. Silly, she was being silly, she told herself. After all,…

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Err0r Err0r

by Amy Covel Err0r Err0rCan’t und0. Err0r Err0r Must red0. Err0r Err0r Can’t F0rget Err0r Err0r Must reset

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The Surprising Closeness of God

by Lisa Harris My grandmother’s best friend, Vi Cotterfield, knew God. She could see the pulse of God’s work in everything: in her vegetables as they grew, in the trees as they stayed firmly planted in the earth, and in the star filled sky. She could detect a vibration underneath…

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Beautiful Eulogies

by Joshua Jennings “Armed educators love our students and will protect them” – President Trump, Feb. 2018 Another little boy’s body lies broken,a cordless instrument,never to be strung again.Instead, the screams of his classmates will haunt the hallways- ballads of missed opportunity. Shells clatter against the floor,a chorus of solitude…

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The Promise of Lake Lonely

by Emily Marcason-Tolmie Their suitcases were stacked like puzzle pieces in the far reaches of the car. Bridget and her younger sister, Lucy, sat in the back seat with their heads slightly touching. Lucy flipped through one of her mother’s fashion magazines circling all the dresses she thought were pretty…

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Don’t Let Your Dreams Die

by Amy Covel Don’t let your dreams die You see, people will kill your dreams They don’t mean to They’re simply using words Voicing opinions Sometimes they’re just having a bad day A bad hour, a bad minute But that bad second Changes you for a lifetime But it’s just…

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Delicate Things

by Aviendha Francisco “You cannot have something for nothing.” It grinned at me, a smile devoid of emotion and full of teeth. It scratched its mangy fur and stared at me with eyes white as milk, wide as saucers. The green velvet divan underneath its cracked hooves provided an interesting…

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