From the Back of the Room Mary Buchinger __________ Faculty Meeting No. 11 It’s the Dolphin standing on his tail waving his flippers. “Assessment” says this pet—“This is our task for this year!” Oh the ball of unreality, how it lights on his nose, and rises like an example. The…
Read MoreWorkplace: Wounds and Woes ’24 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Karris Rae Assistant Editors: Taryn White, Meilyn Woods Esther Courville, “Life Sentence,” photograph Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Karris Rae Prose “Undercover Boss” by Carly Diaz “The Company Man” by…
Read MoreA World Is a World Is a World & Guernica, and then some Sam Rasnake __________ A World Is a World Is a World – after Cobb’s Barns and Distant Houses (1931), painting by Edward Hopper I remember the world Hopper paintedMy Saturdays, toys in the closet besidethe cedar chest.…
Read MoreImagine: Summer II Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Abbie Skinner Assistant Editors: Karris Rae, Aiman Tariq, Taryn White, Meilyn Woods Editorial Assistants: Mia Bonds, Alexandria Knight Sheila Squillante, Sun Shower, Acrylic ink and pen. __________ Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson A Goodbye Letter from the Managing…
Read Moretricky honey & A man of winter Kate Carsella __________ tricky honey You know what they say— We’re headed toward Selfish Times. Disunion. Good then, leave us. Let us part, he chose acrimony. Sunset and salt, daylight in between. Citation: They’ll let you choke on your own saliva on the…
Read MoreConfessions Travis Park __________ Beneath the soft glow of streetlights fading,A revelation whispers, threading through our ordinary world.The park, a familiar canvas, now painted with uncertainty.Her eyes, a mosaic of joy and quiet turmoil,Hold a story yet unfolded, veiled in their depths.The air, thick with the scent of anticipation,Leaves me…
Read MoreAncestral Bed William Miller __________ In the country, there were fewand no one ever slept alone. A strawor chicken-feather mattress was for lean,tired men home from the field,the time between “cain’t see and cain’t see”,for women with hands burned by lye soap,feet blistered by bad ill-fitting shoes.Babies were born there,…
Read MoreLast Night, I Prayed for Peace Jeric Olay __________ Last night, I prayed for peace. But my prayer, I suspect, seems inconceivably large. As I woke up, I paced for the window. From where I stood, everything was christened with wonted quiet. I looked at the bougain- villea that grew on the casserole. Its…
Read MoreCapitalist Necktie Jeffrey H. MacLachlan __________ Treasure Chest comic book Vol.17 No.2 This is a dad tie.This is a straight tie.This is a glum blue tie. This tie mows over tax dependents.This tie hangs from ironed dress shirts.This tie never squirms when belting offspring. This tie tithes at Father Ryan’s…
Read MoreVallie Lynn Watson Vallie Lynn Watson is an Assistant Professor of English/fiction writing in the MFA program at McNeese State University. Her novel, A River So Long, was published by Luminis Books, and recent short stories and essays appear in literary journals such as Hobart, Bending Genres, and PANK. Watson earned her doctorate a thousand…
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