By: Sravani Singampalli  Many feel that the traditional forms Of poetry are the best, A haiku must always follow A 5-7-5 syllable pattern And a poem must follow The specific meters. If you force a child To follow your notions He…

By: Terry Brix Day started with a hot coal ember sunrise wedged between trunk and limb of Lodgepole Pine, streaks and herds of black gray buffalo clouds trampling the blue making white cloud dust. All day snow, rain and hail playing…

By: Terry Brix Free womb rent from my mother—Val, genetic gift from my father—Art. Borrowed those passion-interlocked, semen-egg-woven DNA helixes never to give them back, only half-back to my wife mate in turn. Borrowed money from the banks, three plates full…

By: Patrick Dang I spent day and night daydreaming of love. I dreamt of what the perfect girl would be like. We would be like two peas in a pod. The bestest of friends, with a bond stronger than blood. Distance…

By: William C. Blome I’ll talk up to a point about Mr. Wentworth, and then I’m going to pull up lame and go no further. It’s not that I have personal stakes of any kind in this race, so to speak,…

By: Adreyo Sen Are we to be loved in pieces? The smile you force out of us with some sudden strange act of sweetness, the red in our cheeks when we are fixed by your hawk-like eyes, the slenderness of our…

By: Adreyo Sen We are forever young until our smile first makes you smile and we know our heart is you and thus we know our heart to be frail, and maimed, and perhaps even broken. And so we slip into…

By: Malini Misra It was getting late enough to be worried. I once again stepped into the balcony and looked down. Except for a drenched street dog that was lying down miserably near the gate, there was not a soul…

By: Alina Das The iridescent lights and hundreds of filled seats made my heart beat in a way I had never felt before. As my name was called, I slowly walked onto the empty stage. Using all my gathered confidence…

By: Angel Ramnani The biggest challenge I have faced is knowing that Indian families typically want their first child to be male. My parents conceived a child before me, but my mother aborted because she was afraid it would be a…