By: Ken W. Simpson Gratuitous Living The well of loneliness is dry and emptya sad, inhospitable placewithout love or the affection of a canaryfertilised by human’s follyand the febrile and fractious friendshipsfermenting as happinesssocially addictive but good for businessin an…

By: James Aitchison I have been asked:Can one of you change the world?See into your pure and inner self first,The most supreme of all human experiences.The eternal wheel spins all fates and destinies,Some lives are more advanced toward me,And I…

By William T. Hathaway We live in a time of multi-level ghastliness. People are dropping dead from COVID and dropping dead from the vaccine that’s supposed to prevent it. The weather is rampaging, the earth spewing fire. Mental illness has…

By: Aviva Derenowski The need for a child penetrated every atom of Mama Boa’s soul. She and Papa Boa got together in love and devotion. She prayed and cried and promised anything God might desire. Still, she remained barren. There…

By William T. Hathaway As Mark Twain once said, “It’s not what you don’t know that gets you in trouble, it’s what you know for sure but which just isn’t true.” Humanity is now in trouble because its fundamental assumption…

By: John Grey SINCE YOU ASKED A small unicorncupped in my handor the dead .and missingslowly strolling up my sidewalklike it’s Halloween in January — the rain playing somethingby Duke Ellingtonor a finger wrapped in cellophanesent to me parcel post…

By: Richard LeDue Never Really Liked Hotels The front desk worker wears an undertaker’s smileand the ones who don’t smilemake me feel like someone askingwhere the bathroom is at a funeral,while the muffled conversations I try not to hearin the…

By: Tyler Rafael Marable Recently a culture war over Critical Race Theory was launched at the command of Christopher Rufo. I first heard about Critical Race Theory when searching the term “literary theory.” This was years ago, probably 2017. I…

By Mike Hickman “Vinegar,” Dennis Pringle replied, when I asked him what he hoped had become of the film print. If there had ever been a film print. “Hopefully,” he added, foul teeth chewing on another cigar as he leaned…

By: Alison Auch (Trigger warning: sexual assault) I’m trying to think of a beautiful word,one that goes in front of train but in backof hot night, fourteen in white shirt, was ita white shirt? And a word that does morethan…