By: Debra N. Diener American democracy is lauded as structurally solid, composed of three strong equal governmental branches balancing and supporting each other for the good of the country. The fallacy of that assumption repeatedly emerged over these past four…

By: Debra N. Diener I’m suddenly stabbed in the top of my right foot. Simultaneously, I yelp in pain, look down at my foot and could swear I hear someone cackling like a storybook witch right above me. Blood is…

By: Duane L. Herrmann     The middle aged man was still glad to be divorced. The shrill screaming of his wife was beginning to fade away, but not the memory. He didn’t miss her except for one thing: the Apple…

By: Jason Visconti A Confusion Of Streetlights Houdini leaves his trick puzzling at the cross,The merry-go-round of light has found a wheel,A stray wheel jerked through miles tended to or lost,Red and green soldiers who’ve strayed from their field,The players…

By: Ram Govardhan Nudging six feet, one the most rational eunuchs in Chennai, Rafael, while tucking pleats of his sari below the jewelled navel, was too careful not to hide the punch-line under the elaborate Cupid tattoo—naked winged boy with…

By: Ethan Goffman Help, I am a human trapped within the body of a human! Is this body my identity?I didn’t choose it. Did it choose me?Without me it lacks agency.Without it, I can never simply be.Yet who’s this “I,”…

By: Sheila Henry MyInner Lifeblossoms onpages andcreativity spreads openlike buddingflowers on a Spring morn In humility I sharesecrets of myselfmy feelings and emotionsof doubts of fearsof achievements of daresbeing comforted by thestrokes of my pen I bare my soul on…

By: john e.c. 3. After feeding him his beef or chicken for supper, she’d leave him at the TV and head for the river. It ran slow and deep past the bottom of the garden. Five weeks into her new…

By: KD Smith Some wounds defy healing,too deep to reachwithout hurting innocent tissue.Some wounds wait, assumed to be healed,boiling in infection, poised to erupt.One sharp jab, an unexpected blow,and poison follows channels,corrupting all it touches,jangling nerves and rattling what was…

By: Mark Millicent OLDER On reflection it’s getting cold; on reflection,I’m growing oldMy gate and stride, not as robust.I sit longer than I did, not as active as the kidMusing and smiling at the treasures I keepThe things that I…