By: M.A. Lang Brainard Freeson slowly and methodically put away his tools. He glanced over at the small girl who sat on her bed, quietly sobbing. He snapped the case shut and left the room. The young girl’s mother sat…
By: Doug Van Hooser Stray Bullet In Chicago stray is not a dog with sad eyes It’s not a bar ribbed cat meowing at your door It’s a piece of harm that tears flesh and splatters lives A Chicago omelet of…
By: Gary Van Haas I couldn’t believe they said it. They were actually talking about suicide and the best way to do it as though it was a casual everyday matter. They even went into detail of how to go about…
By: Gary Van Haas Strange eerie rumblings began underground at CERN laboratory near Geneva on the Franco-Swiss border. The gargantuan particle accelerator whined ominously in a low grinding pitch. The device was used for boosting particle beams, turning them into high energy…
By: Megha Sood 1. Aberration I’m an aberration, An anomaly, A certain twist in the tale How do you feel when you masks peel off in layers? and every time you shred your pain and misery You see more layers…
By: Jean Lagacé Gulfport, Mississippi. 1990 Lyn (short for Pralina) was not herself that morning. She had forgotten to bring him jam with his toast and never came back to refill his cup with fresh coffee after he had finished his breakfast….
By: James G. Piatt Idols of Stone Idols of stone, the remains of the ancient times of dinosaurs, pharaoh’s, pagan priests, kings, and tyrants, rest on tiny pebbles in a soft forest grove. They are silent during the day but speak…
By: John Maxwell O’Brien Down by the Echo Lake (A Villanelle) Down by the echo lake in spectral dreams tin souls prepare their wake Green hands ring round the rake A lime of veils down by the echo lake Watered…
By: Stephen Mead Watering invites you to become all things littlest: Grub tongues, star-nosed moles, avid Aphids & missionary bees… Butterflies also, the fluttering migrations pass on, resemble the sun, shade, scent… So we are ephemera lasting gigantic as we…
By: Alan Berger He first got the news while painting his last painting. He was born in America but left for good, or bad, for Paris and never planned to go back, unless as an artistic hero. Nothing less will…