By Zara Thustra “This is it,” Natalia says as she stares at two tickets on her kitchen table. Stencilled on them, in brown and sandy letters, is World Chess Championship – Lincoln Center – Sat, July 9, 2039 2:00 PM. “I’m doing it today. No more getting cold feet.” Last Friday at the coffee house, … Continue reading 8 mn 20 s
Brave Ramon
By Lewis Brett Smiler Whenever Jen sang at the nursing home, her boyfriend Ramon would forget himself and start singing along. But when Jen looked at him from the piano, he would stop immediately. His off-key voice was very distracting. Yet, seeing her dad’s old coworker Mr. Spinelli was far more unsettling. He used to … Continue reading Brave Ramon
My Time As A Hermit
By Michael Barrington After ten years as a busy religious missionary priest in Africa, I was driven by an internal compulsion to spend some time in silence, prayer, and solitude. I had spent three of those years in Nigeria, witness to unspeakable horrors and atrocities during its civil war. Delivering aid was a matter of … Continue reading My Time As A Hermit
Crying
By Bella Melardi The west worships complaints of those Who have a voice to do so And that is not everyone everywhere I can cry But when you live to survive I can only ever imagine it Blood becomes a language You learn to speakTo survive Panicking becomes death And life becomes a question I … Continue reading Crying
H U M A N A
By Ode4 Roman Pangea two, emerging, redesignedContours and shapes of its lands and seas,Creating happily flowers and bees:New world of wonders first Earthlings sighted.Their life evolved blooming through aeonsGrafting varieties, selecting someTo lead invasions into the outcome,Growing,surviving through daughters and sons.Daughters became their first state of the art:The sacred Goddess, the Muse, the Empress,And marble … Continue reading H U M A N A
A Bloom That Refuses To Die
By Mariam Shote Last night I was in solitude as if to say I wander in eigengrau with eyes closed while cold lava runs down my cheeks in a burning sensation. It always feels like a dream— but it’s not. The warmth of my tears slap me awake, dragging me into reality. When I try … Continue reading A Bloom That Refuses To Die
Helix Moon
By Priscilla Duran-Luciano It bleedsthick red dropletshiding in the foldsof my ear.It hurts.I don’t knowwhat hurts —my ear,my helix,my cartilage moon,my heart.my heart…who knows.I carry them,the bleeding moon,my sore heart.They meltinto onesingle helix,and the moonkeeps turning in my ear,its tides pullingthe last crimson tears out of meinto the dark. Priscilla Duran-Luciano is a Dominican-born poet … Continue reading Helix Moon
2026 General and Special Contest Submission Guidelines
Hey all! Before we begin detailing the exact details for our 2026 submission guidelines, here are some updates to those who submitted in 2025: We have decided that those who submitted to our 2025 Contests Pool and did not win may submit these submissions to our 2026 General Pool for consideration We will be holing … Continue reading 2026 General and Special Contest Submission Guidelines
November “The Thursdays” Contest: Gold Winner: “We Gather Together” by Clarence Heller
Only now, as what I treasure about Thanksgivingis no longer possible,only now do I realize that the important aspect of celebratingthis holiday has always been changing,year after year, decade after decade.As a child, it was to have playtime with my cousins.Then as a teenager in love, it was to spend time with mysweetheart and her … Continue reading November “The Thursdays” Contest: Gold Winner: “We Gather Together” by Clarence Heller
November “The Thursdays” Contest: Silver Winner: “The Long November” by Ken Gosse
Dontcha just hate when Thanksgiving is latebecause Friday the First means the calendar’s cursedbut you’re so hurly-burly you start a week earlythen sit at the table and wait, wait, wait, wait! Ken Gosse usually writes short, rhymed verse using whimsy and humor with traditional meters. First published in First Literary Review–East in November 2016, his … Continue reading November “The Thursdays” Contest: Silver Winner: “The Long November” by Ken Gosse
Academy of the Heart And Mind 