By Russell Waterman “Sterling, dearie, nobody likes a grumpy wumpy. Here, let’s turn that frown upside down,” his mother leered as she stretched his lips into a deformed jokers smile. In a snit, the young boy pushed his mother’s hands…
By: Erin Weber Boss Ron had roots in the community. He was grown from the rocky North Carolina dirt and nourished by its streams and lakes. Like everyone, he had dreams about leaving his hometown, but knew it was probably…
By: Bobby Z The Jyd Conspicuous moments—like footprints in the sand.leave you void of emotions—unresponsive to any commands. evaporating memories—disappear like hidden treasures.complicate your desires—to search for forbidden pleasures. wounded dreams—that fail to reveal.leaves you yearning—what is fake and what…
By: William Masters The Da Vinci Café, a San Francisco landmark, stood at the corner of Broadway and Stockton Streets for thirty-nine years. Its door-sized front windows overlooked both Chinatown and North Beach. Opened originally to supply fake documentation (passports,…
By: Robert S. King The First Lovers of Paradise Sunshine waves down from heavenand reddens the skin.A river snakes into paradise,carrying a load from unknown lands.The lovers bathe, drink, and laughin holy water slowly muddied by burning battleships,by hollow skulls…
By Neera Kashyap Pre-life Discrimination may be about colour caste race gender.Discrimination may also be about perceiving right from wrong;friend from foe; good from bad; law from justice….Sometimes a person feels like a friend because she has arrived;a rash of…
By: Kelly L. Miller Black bird, beautiful black bird, take flightInto the greyness of the nearest nightThrough the blend of darkest ebony and lightest whiteTo the greatest of brand-new twinkling heights Black bird, beautiful black bird, do you ventureTo scope…
‘The Four Colors’ by Ankur is the latest poetry collection that presents the different colours of life in four sections. Published by Kolkata-based Hawakal Publishers, the poetry collection goes deeper to explore the meaning of life through four colours. The…
By: S. B. Julian Two women, burka-covered, meet in the street. They chat. Observers can see nothing but their eyes – when they’re’ close enough. Otherwise they see only two shrouded post-like figures, with voices. Hello Lolo! You’ve put on…
By: Raluca Sirbu I looked for minutes at the picture that he once gave me. He was stretching a smile for the camera; the small six-year-old gave that gift to the person who took the picture. There was another…