The Wreck In Numbers Ken Haas __________ __________ Ken Haas lives in San Francisco, where he works in healthcare. His first book, Borrowed Light, won several awards. Ken has been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes and serves on the Board of the Community of Writers. His poems have appeared in…
Read MoreUniversal Language, July ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing/Guest Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess, Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Nam Hoang Tran, “//||\\||//||\\||//,” photography. Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Karris Rae Fiction “How Your…
Read MoreThird Grade Math, Intro to Philosophy, and Other Disciplines Colette Tennant __________ In third grade, my middle son ended up teaching his class math. I questioned how that helped him. It didn’t add up, but the teacher shrugged and said she didn’t know what else to do. When she made…
Read MoreBe stFri end Rachel Beachy __________ Halfway between her house and mine there was a hillwe could bike to, but we met at the corner stop sign firstin our flip-flops and braces and braids. We stole ourmothers’ body spray and smelled like cucumber melonthe whole summer. I still remember the…
Read Moresidewalk chalk Isaiah Alexander __________ we spent hours under the sun,shading our dreams in sidewalk chalk.neon green, blue, and red.we drew until our knuckles bled. we imagined the possibilities:future homes, husbands, wives, babies—the lives we’d build,etched onto cement.our street became a canvas,a testament to youthful ambition,colored with all of our…
Read MoreEmma Goldman-Sherman __________ A Nest of Hornets That summer, I told her, “I’m a boy.” My mother laughed and said, “The hell you are.” After dinner, I chased fireflies. I decided their lights meant green for boys, red for girls even if it wasn’t science. I trapped the red ones…
Read MoreThe Atlantic Grace Ann Elinski __________ I’ve tried to drown myself in the Atlantic a plethora of times. I say drown lightly. Once or twice on purpose, the number blurred by the waves and liquor, other times just so drunk that maybe I might have drowned. Obviously, every time, I…
Read MoreThalassophilia Selene Sezer __________ I remember the day you asked me if I already knew how I’d die. I assumed you were simply starting a conversation and would follow up a second later with your own answer. But no. You, with your green shimmering eyes, fixed on me. I was…
Read MoreThe Fireworks Swetha Amit __________ After I signed the divorce papers last month, I sat on my balcony in my East Bay apartment overlooking Lake Merritt. The cool July air made me pull my blanket tighter around my shoulders. Near the lake, families and couples gathered. Laughter floated in the…
Read MoreEveryone at the Sand Sculpting Contest, Imperial Beach, California, 1985 Lynn Mundell __________Jennifer says none of us have any imagination or experience, so we should make a sand Pop-Tart, which will require zero skill. We all stand around in different colored bikinis like a box of crayons melting in the…
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