By: Christopher Johnson Glacial Park Conservation Area in McHenry County, Illinois–some 45 miles northwest of Chicago–is a stunning example of the Midwestern landscape. In the space of 3,400 acres, you hike through a restored prairie and past a bog and…

By James Aitchison We were touring Northern Ireland, my wife and I, tracing some of my Irish ancestors to the seaside town of Ballycastle.  There, on the north-eastern tip of Ireland, we had booked a rather interesting cottage from the…

By George Oliver They throw them in there – never put nor place. Girls and boys like Taylor are thrown in the small, padded rooms by the Guardians. The Guardians follow orders at the Compound: line up the new children…

By: Jim Bates Hot September dayDry grass crinkling underfootThirsty squirrel pants. Equinox arrivesEqual hours day and nightNature’s symmetry. Autumn breeze goes stillThirsty leaves hang crispilyDry air feels languid. Geese flying honkingSwallows amass on taut wiresSense of change looming.

By Thomas Sanfilip It is difficult to say, though bears repeating, that poetry holds no sway over modern culture, it has drifted into obscure corners so distant, it has become merely an artifact, an oddity, a peculiar expression that has…

By: Arvilla Fee Once Around the Block Lenny’s eyes sag, his chin sags;he’s just one sad sack of bonesbound to a wheelchair.Bored—bordering on depression.No family. No visitors. Stuck.Come on, Lenny, I say.He lifts bushy gray eyebrows,casting me a look of…

By: James Aitchison Weak shouldersdo not have to bearenormous anguish.Soft words,impervious to grief,await in the bastionof the soul.Let no mangrovel for answers.The soul containsthe means to gentlylight your path.

By: Pawel Markiewicz 1961 – the wall has been builtonce sixty-one stars glowed over the native landthe East Germany rife with butterflies sparkled in the nightthe Western Germany full of west wood garlics glinted in the eveningthe fall of the…

(Part of the Yin & Yang of Travel Series) By: Mark D. Walker Share our similarities, celebrate our differences. — M. Scott Peck Over the last fifty years, the why and where I travel have changed radically. In 2013, my…

The Crossword Book Award, one of the coveted literary awards in the country, is back after a hiatus of five years. Launched in 1998, it is one of the longest-running awards in India, and aims to recognise and celebrate Indian…