Merie Kirby
Merie Kirby What small birds do Once I held in my hand a yellow finch –it hopped through the front yard, escaped orturned out pet. It trembled to vibrationagainst my palm, strong heartbeat I took for frailty. My grandma loved…
Caleb Peterson
Caleb Petersen Ten Reasons to Write Poetry One) last night Hunter diced onions and poblano peppers,finely, then scraped them into a pot of beef. Two)it smelled of smoked paprika and cumin and my eyeswelled up with the need for metaphor.…
Ashley Mae Hoiland
Ashley Mae Hoiland Birthday At the park, I met a dog, Hank, as tall as my chest. His tender skin–cloud skin–stretched across his ribs carried a deep cut trying to heal. His fur, short and bristled, raised around it in…
Cal Freeman
Cal Freeman Tender Years: A Brief Memoir With “Eddie and the Cruisers” A season by its weather swaps our footwear and our garments as we travel snow-swept roads without volition. This is what it means to tremolo and slide. Nobody…
Aaron Rabinowitz
Aaron Rabinowitz Whyte Beach Most locals don’t know it exists, it’s not named on any maps and the approach is difficult, almost impossible at high tide along the shoreline. We scrambled over slippery rocks, avoided a hornet’s nest and seaweed…
Trapper Markelz
Trapper Markelz Industrial, Mixed Use Parcel # 179-183-16 contains 10,454 Sq. Ft. and was built in 1979 You have grabbed the last wrench from the box,hoses loose, grease oozing from o-rings,chisels & drivers nicked with engine gore. You can…
Hilary Sallick
Hilary Sallick Maple I wonder why I’ve not beenwriting is it becauseI’ve been feeling so tiredas now almost midnightI don’t know howto keep goingor what will come nextThere’s still the challengeand loneliness as the treeat the end…
Edward Lees
Edward Lees Transformations Foxes ghosted, but what was the pointfor our cat without the wideness of life?So out she went,until bitten and paralysis slowly set in.At first it was just a stuttered walk,which we hoped would pass.She managed the steps…
Michael Fontana
Michael Fontana ICE After the snow came ice. It thickened itself around tree limbs, strangled telephone and cable wires so they drooped and sometimes snapped. Several houses around ours were consumed in darkness as the storm wore on. The…
Robert Kostuck
Robert Kostuck The False Aleph With apologies to the memory of Jorge Luis Borges. After everyone else leaves the Chacarita cemetery and the gravediggers finish tamping the soil with their spades, the four of us remain…