By Kartika Lestari Harry’s heart felt like the earth after being hit by a meteor, shattered into pieces, nothing but a deep, empty hole. He gripped his wife Shanti’s hand, who sat beside him on the couch in their dining room. Since they made their way out of the hospital that afternoon, she had leaned … Continue reading End of Affection
For Therapy, I Mix Metaphors
By D. R. James From a frozen wedge of machine-split pine,tossed on this settling fire, one frayed, martyredfiber curls back and away like a wire, thenflares, a flame racing the length of a fuse.Imagine this an innermost strand, a barely-dirttwo-track off Frost’s road less traveled, a thin, trembling thread of desire, the uncharted blue veinof … Continue reading For Therapy, I Mix Metaphors
A Blue Body in a Black Tab
By Aritra Basak Morning leaks in slowly, like spilled milk across the sky.I open my eyes, though I was never really asleep. My body feels like it has been placed in the wrong century. My hands are not mine; they’re extensions of some old machine that hasn’t been oiled in years.The laptop stares at me … Continue reading A Blue Body in a Black Tab
The White Subaru
By Maya Rawitch Originally published in Love and Loss Epiphanies self published by Cheryl Lunar Wind. She sits in my white Subaru, balls of her feet digging into the mat meant to protect her from the heat. She lets her gaze drift out the window, trying to will the pine tree’s sappy scent to sift … Continue reading The White Subaru
Ponder about the Nature of Color
By Alex Andy Phuong The world of cinema beganWith black-and-white,Along with shades of gray,And yet,Within the reality of every dayIs a world filledWith the wonder of color,So ponder deeplyAbout the nature throughout the EarthAnd see all of its beautyFor what it is truly worth,And the miracle of birthPermits people to live,So remember to forgive,And let … Continue reading Ponder about the Nature of Color
The Bookshop That Forgot Names
By Farytude The door was hidden behind a soft bell of swaying grass. She had walked past the path many times, but never stepped inside. Today, though, was different. She decided to enter, searching for a book on grief – something for her aunt, who was going through the pain of losing her husband. It … Continue reading The Bookshop That Forgot Names
A Slow Decline
By Brian Ji Farmers wake, farm their fields. Their wives tend hearth and home, chickens, pull milk from cows, slopthe pigs. Fishermen struggleagainst fleets of slowly departing commercial ships, haul in smaller catches of ever-smaller fish. But entangled seals barbed in wire loosely fit, don’t care, burgeon swollen into a razor sharp ring cuts through … Continue reading A Slow Decline
Born to die
By Erni-Szakács Szilárd Life and death are connected. They do not exist alone, only together with the other. Somebody who is born must die. This is the rule of life. But why are we born? And what is life? Life is a gift or a punishment? Why are we born without being asked? What is … Continue reading Born to die
Forgiveness
By Pauline Olthof-Youn A sliver of hope that there can be change, And holding out an olive branch to you, Wrapped up in an apology, like a dumpling, Loud cries of joy and relief are emitted Like the sound a bookshelf makes when it clatters and shakes On an eve when we are playing vinyl … Continue reading Forgiveness
Who’m I If Not Me?
By Ken Gosse If I write yours, then I am you.If you write mine, then I am two.That’s surely not what we should dofor I’m sure I’d obscure the viewintended; you might be offendedand your readers seek amendedpoetry from you, not me,that’s written how it’s s’posed to be;but otherhanded, should you chooseattempts to write while … Continue reading Who’m I If Not Me?
Academy of the Heart And Mind 