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Short Fiction and Poetry


My Dreams Write Me Too; Break A Leg by Hibah Shabkhez
Each stone of these stairs rasps like a regret,
Like the memory of a child's flushed face
Clouding with hurt, [...]


Shortlist Saturdays: Deer King by Christina Hennemann
I cross the bridge and find you
soaked in dew, overlooking the clearing.
Doe eyes and roots crowning your antlers,
you wait for me [...]


The Favour; What Is Happiness by Royden V Chan
She had over-slept. There was no time to make her usual
breakfast — she would be late for work [...]


impressions, times, atmospheres; angel of earth, angel of sky by Brian Michael Barbeito
do you ever remember the spring or summer sun, the rains that make the wildflowers to blossom and the wood and metal bridges [...]


Lemon Path by Terry Towbridge
A lemon rolls down the aisle of church.
The Monseigneur bends down to pick it up.
The lemon is as blinding yellow as a banana from space[..]


I Age by Michael Lee Johnson
Arthritis and aging make it hard,
I walk gingerly, with a cane, and walk
slow, bent forward, fear threats,
falls, fear denouement─[...]


Gloria by Eileen Tull
I came to this place to be alone, but all I want is to talk to a stranger
I let a palm leaf brush against my face
And my heart stops [...]


While cycling out of Chéticamp by Bill Garvey
I am thinking of you and Mike
on your way to Baddeck in a cab
then driving to Portland
to catch a flight to Cleveland [...]


Take One Last Chance and Know by Caleb Gainey
I am the vibrant orange of autumn pumpkins,
the burning red of summer tomatoes.
The quiet pallor of winter parsnips. [...]


Ghazal For Gus by Cecily Ross
This poem’s about asparagus
A poem that rhymes and doesn’t fuss
With meter, tense or prosody
Written for my grandson Gus [...]


Disturbed by Gina Carrillo
Silent raindrops fell like tears
Outside the castle
I’m aching for you
whisper away my anxieties [...]


Last Night; Ghost Head by Donna Dallas
I burned the wick
down to a nub
There’s a quiet ache
in the heart
I try to numb it with burn
with sting
opioids [...]


the god hasn't saved me by Elisha Oluyemi
the god hasn't saved me
the dog did.
he kept barking till I woke up and I
saw the door knob jerking furiously. [...]


Piles Of Apples; Freediving by Siobhan Farrell
The afternoon yawns
lazily,
hot white sand,
whooshes of waves,
freckled skin peeking
out from a tight bikini [...]


Can You Hear Me Now? by Screams Of Unfettered Minds
Sitting alone in my own despair
Just off in the distance ringing I hear
That familiar sound of my phone's ringtone [...]


I Want To Chop The Moon Into Tiny Pieces by Hemanta Dalpati, trans. Pitambar Naik
We compose songs on a moonlit night, we sing humobauli and play hide
and seek, on a moonlit night, go to the jungle [...]


It Began With Water by Shirley Jones Luke
It began with water. It began with bodies in the water. It began with African bodies in the water. [...]


Soulful Voices by Ali Ashhar
I sit beneath the sky
on a midsummer night
aside the brook
aloof from the turbulence
and cacophonies I try to evade


Staring At A World Gone By by Richard M. Ankers
I'm staring at a world gone by, laughing without reason or want. There are people on the pathways and cars on the street, but they hide[...]


The Way Of Things; One Day by Richard LeDue
Too many of us bury ourselves under smiles,
believing in the flat happiness
of dollar bills, [...]
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