By: Harvey Huddleston His mother let him smoke. How could she not? We’d go out to the backyard and share a cig. Like kids again. It was also the exercise, walking down the hall and through the living room and…
By: Brent Yergensen Young, hopeful—gun unneededPlayed the role of sheriff, newspaper and coffee for styleMost his career, empty of worryBut now burdened, chasing a killer’s hurry Aging and wondering, why men so violent?Became a voiceover, of control less certain‘Take evil’s…
By: Dennis Vannatta 1 Zeke got a lot of mileage out of killing his little brother, Jacky Boy. Those who’d always suspected that Zeke carried some dark thing within him saw Jacky Boy’s death as the inevitable sprouting of…
By: Jim Bates Sumac leaves changingShades of orange and burgundyColors of pure joy. Gunmetal grey skyBlazing red maples stand proudFall’s splendorous show. Autumn wind blowingGolden leaves racing madlyTrees becoming bare. Along the lakeshoreTrees fiery orange and redAutumnal delight.
By Mishal Ahmed Abbasi When we open a novel, we usually trust the narrator without question. We follow their voice, see through their eyes, and accept their version of the world. But what happens when that trust is broken? When…
By Hugh Blanton Lauren Bolger’s second novel, The Barre Incidents, takes place in Barre, New Hampshire near a massive granite quarry and the cemetery where most of the town’s residents who’ve passed on now rest in peace. Kara Lenker’s father,…
By James Aitchison Can your brain really reveal your personality by the way it controls the muscles of your hand? Can your handwriting express your innermost levels of intelligence, cognitive ability and talent? In the mid-twentieth century, so-called experts frequently…
By: Emily Authement The air in this room is thick,A dense, unmoving waterI have to push through just to stand.It is not fear, exactly,More of the architecture of what might be. My mind is a flickering screen,Showing futures that haven’t…
By: Jun A. Alindogan I did not expect such an event to happen, but I think it was inevitable. I was busy teaching, which took me to different locations in the city, while my elderly mom stayed with my younger…
By: Pramod Rastogi Echoes of Yesterday, Promises of Tomorrow As Santa glides inOn his reindeer chariot,Millions of hearts swell with joy,A collective cheer reverberatesAcross the vast expanse of the world.The year now nearing its twilight hourClings gently to its fleeting…