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
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?
13 Days of Halloween: All Hallows’ Eve by Nina Dinan
When russet leaves begin to fall,When light retreats and west winds blow,When shaken coals begin to glowAnd play with shadows on the wall,Sliced apples bubble in a pot,The wind relays the scent of smoke,The sticks and bellows blow and poke,And hearth flames catch a dimming spot. They say a veil of gossamerHangs just beyond the … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: All Hallows’ Eve by Nina Dinan
13 Days of Halloween: I’m Not Afraid of the Dark by K.R. Moore
With a hiss, the TV hosting an unsaved video game cut out along with the rest of the house as a boy who dozed off while playing slowly came to. “The lights went out again?” 9-year-old Andy Watkins had fallen asleep in the basement yet again only to wake up past one in the morning … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: I’m Not Afraid of the Dark by K.R. Moore
13 Days of Halloween: Hallows’ Eve by Elanur Williams
Within, a haunted life - shadows and hidden rooms loom against the full moon'ssilver glow, inviting in winged spirits of the night. Elanur Williams is an educator based in New York City, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Her work has previously been published in Eunoia Review, 3Elements, The Ekphrastic Review, Feminism and Religion, … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: Hallows’ Eve by Elanur Williams
13 Days of Halloween: The Tree by Ciaran McLarnon
On dark evenings, Eoin could hear their voices through his living-room window. He was sure they were in his house while he slept; their high-pitched drawl filled his nights. When he rose each morning, he was confronted with the most persuasive evidence. There was butter sliding down the walls of his kitchen, rashers of raw … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: The Tree by Ciaran McLarnon
13 Days of Halloween: His Coffin’s Last Tale by Ken Gosse
On his next and last voyage he would pay the full fare.As a passenger now, he found he didn’t careto chase whales or kowtow to a ship tyrant’s ordersor bunk with the crew down below in close quarters,nor climb up the mast like he’d done far too often—the ship far below looking like a small … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: His Coffin’s Last Tale by Ken Gosse
13 Days of Halloween: Residents Unearthed by Bernardo Villela
I In the cold ground necrotic skin quavers,those lain in gravebeds sleep uneasylifespans end when light is snuffed outbut humanity’s undying fire can reignite the living dead.The afterlife’s cycles occur in light-time.The dead’s centennial reawakening is a needed respite for the long gone and reluctantly departedin local mausoleums and those wind-scattered.Resurfacing, a drowned man waltzes;reintegrating, … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: Residents Unearthed by Bernardo Villela
13 Days of Halloween: Exit 53 by Laura Boatner
CW: Gore I grimace and blink rapidly, transfixed by the bright lights. It’s frigid, bitter cold, and I wonder where my clothes are. She’s lovely, petite, and with alabaster skin. She has the shade of flaxen hair that doesn’t come from a bottle. It’s pulled back loosely, but with a few curly strands that brush … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: Exit 53 by Laura Boatner
Academy of the Heart And Mind 