By Joanne Johnson You were always quick with a jokeAlways with impeccable timingAs you teased about what would come nextForetelling the next line with a smirkWhen you entered the room you announcedHaving a story that would produce A raucous and resounding laughterTo even the unhappiest soulsIt was your signature that proceeded youEveryone anticipating jocular entertainment … Continue reading The Last Punchline
Origin
By Janet Belding Everyone gets born the same way, the name in the Bible. Well if I was written in there it was lost in the fire. We had no water to put it out and there was wind, no rain. I woke up one day and I was a man with no memories. I … Continue reading Origin
Before Dawn
By Oliver Kleyer Before dawn,I don’t have a name.It normally reappears with the sunrise,preferably on the railroad bridge,overlooking the town where I work,but fortunately, not live,sometimes starting the O,sometimes with the i.Before dawn, you could call me anything,there is a 50/50 chance I might answer.Before dawn, I sometimes think my nameis Adam & there is … Continue reading Before Dawn
Of Poppies and Peaches
By Jessica Ursell in the remotest region of Kyrgyzstana makeshift cribtenderly placedunder a treeits darkly silveredboughslow and ladenwith bountyvast fields of crimson poppiesin the distanceas far as the eye can seeand closerthose velvety softblushing globesof creamy rougedrupesPrunus persicatemptinga tiny totpink chubby armsoutstretchedopen mouthedtwin pearlsframed by rosebud lipsindustriously imprintingher markon all thewarm tawnypeachesshe welcomesinto her crib … Continue reading Of Poppies and Peaches
Gulliver’s Wife
By Lynn White First published in Visual Verse, January 2022 It is not commonly known that Gulliver had a wifebut she accompanied him on all his journeysand Lilliput was her favourite place.Swift never wrote about her.Perhaps he found her just to daring,even though she was careful to be on her best behaviourand hide her painted … Continue reading Gulliver’s Wife
Finding the Garden
By Detlef Wieck The walk back to the rectory seemed to go in slow motion. His shoes were little protection to his fee. The holes in the soles admitted enough water that it squished between his toes as he walked. The evening had been a bitter one with the loss of one of the wealthiest … Continue reading Finding the Garden
The Brothers Alpine
By Will Eaton The alpine moss held fast with white- and green- and teal-colored gnarled fists to the flanks of ancient glacial boulders as the snow beat all around them and as the wind howled and vexed the rocks to shake and stir and moan in the frigid night air. In the midst of this … Continue reading The Brothers Alpine
Stranded
By Asia Ali Burnt oil wafted into my nostrils, making my eyes stream. “What’s wrong with it?” I asked as we all peered into the van’s engine. We had pulled over on a country road, and there were no other vehicles in sight. Darkness was approaching, the only light source a flickering lamppost a few … Continue reading Stranded
The Market
By Eno Howl Walking through the market,I was eating a pomegranate when we met.You wore last year’s clothes,shoes cut from a stranger’s Coke bottle and string.The clack of plastic on stone,the wet crack of seeds in my teeth.You stopped level with my knee.No money. Only food.They had warned me about boys like you—painted burns,borrowed bandages.I … Continue reading The Market
Across the Street
By Shrish Sivakumar and Soham M.P A pen slipped from my hand and struck the cold, hard tile. The sound woke me. I lifted my head from the desk, roused by the sound. The lamp was still on. Papers lay where I had left them, filled with handwritten notes I didn’t remember writing; time had … Continue reading Across the Street
Academy of the Heart And Mind 