Tim Loperfido
Tim Loperfido NORTHBOUND TRAIN TO PENN STATION, 2001 New Jersey transit into the city is always busy on Christmas, but just enough seats remain empty on the train so that no one has to stand. Kristin and…
Richard Paik
Richard Paik MOST DIFFICULT On the first Friday in December, Alan distributed the poetry unit handout to his Senior Honors English class. Each student must select a poem. In making your selection, you need not limit yourself…
Kirby Wright
Kirby Wright BOULDER BLUES We sat near the continental air access tunnel. My father wore a Lilly Daché button-up, khaki pants, and blue joggers. Daddyo was upset that my mother and Jen were visiting the airport gift shop. He…
William Roebuck
William Roebuck SCALING MOUNT WHITMAN: LEAVES OF GRASS AND AMERICA’S FIRST GREAT ‘AWOKENING’ Cards on the table. I’m not a Whitman scholar. Put me down, I guess, as a plain old reader who likes literature. As I’ve gotten…
Deborah Copperud
Deborah Copperud MVMOMS On my last trip to the Washburn branch of the Hennepin County Library as a volunteer book reviewer, I elbow the automatic door opener. I am oblivious that, before my next visit, I will resign my…
Mark Doyle
Mark Doyle THE CONSOLATIONS OF WATERLOO SUNSETS This is a song about finding yourself alone and being okay with that. This is a song about finding hope in endings. [0:00 descending bassline] One night in Washington, DC, my…
Kale Hensley
Kale Hensley I RECKON WITH MY FEET The first time a girl witnesses her toes in the mouth of another, she would not have anticipated it happening during a game at church. It is complicated. I use that word in…
Samodh Porawagamage / All the Salty Sand in Our Mouths
by Samodh Porawagamage Excerpts from All the Salty Sand in Our Mouths TO COUSIN G. We’ve all grown up and you are nowhere close to schooling, so late that, even I, the youngest of the lot, know…
John Rolfe Gardiner / Tree Men
by John Rolfe Gardiner TREE MEN You’re as likely to be hit twice by lightning on a Monday as see a wood-chipper pull a man into its maw. Rare, as well, is the member of an arborist crew who hasn’t…
Jill Sisson Quinn / Two Hours
by Jill Sisson Quinn Two Hours They had spent three days under the rubble, and during that time her mistake of letting the dog get fat suddenly became an asset. The warmth emanating from Silas’s back, which was pressed against…