in houses of stolen bones Peach Delphine __________ what remains what lives within our wordsours alone progress incremental visibility necessity we are not coin in your currency salt bartered flesh expendable bitches voices unfiltered rolling off Gulf tangle lightning wash your greens in three watersfor luck stem tear wash again progress incremental clear onions bacon…
Read MorePièce de Résistance Jane Blanchard __________ I wondered if this gatheringWould prove a bit too challenging,But so far it is going fine—Or well enough—for me and mine.Once soft or stiffer drinks are gone,The potluck supper can move on.Our host serves seasoned roasted lamb;Our hostess offers glazed baked ham.The slightly stressful…
Read MoreOmelet & Her 77th Michelle McMillan-Holifield __________ Omelet We broke eggs sloppily over a Corelle cup,that little 1977goblet whose greensweren’t leavesbut a censusof mossy splotches, whose pattern of small yolk-yellow flowers was as familiar and delicious a memory as the zingof mustard greensin a grandmother’ssweltering kitchen—her love villagewhere she prayedfor her salvationwhere she prayedfor her babieswhere…
Read MoreFall Feasts: Nov. ’24 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess, Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Crystal White, “Enough to Go Around,” photograph Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Taryn White Prose…
Read MoreEditor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Karris Rae Guest Editor: Abbie Skinner Assistant Editors: Taryn White, Meilyn Woods Deborah Elam, “Witch’s Brew,” graphic design Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Abbie Skinner Skinner Prize Winner “Monsters,” “Child’s Play,” & “Bring the Nightmares…
Read MoreWork Week Benjamin Niespodziany __________ [1] Monday Mood I panickedin my company’s five-flavoredcola elevator. Later,much later,I was fine. [2] Tuesday Blues I caught fireat my cubicle.You used a rulerto make it stop. [3] Wednesday Raise They gave memore money. A newnumber. Clean mug.I hugged my desk.I crackeda smile. [4] Thursday…
Read MoreWrong Song Devon Neal __________ For a moment the copper-feathered robin the exact size as my two palms, with its midnight-storm eye and a beakful of tattered acorn, stopped on the concrete sill of the fourth-floor office window expecting to find an underdressed princess, mid-song, looking for help with tidying…
Read MoreMy Brief Life as a Dean Jennifer Lagier __________ Night One: a man beats his child in the parking lot. I phone the police, an ambulance, child protective services, our security guards. Night Two: across the street, gang-bangers shoot a man as he stands on his lawn. I phone the…
Read MoreThe Building Manager Lora Keller __________ When their Schwinns and Toyotas slink out the drive, I haunt their burrows. I thaw her sibilance with a comma splash and one tangled ampersand. His easel creaks as I dab fuschia, his sunset now inferno. I thread golden floss and scatter a spray…
Read MoreWhy Hawks Make Bad Bosses Jean Janicke __________ Circling on thermals dark suits and auburn feathers soar above pay grades. Their shadows darken cubicles. A high-pitched descending keeeeer freezes fingers over keyboards. They leave one small wing on the floor near the printer, prey partly eaten. __________ Jean Janicke spends…
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