By Detlef Wieck I had not been sleeping well, and during the day, I found it hard to concentrate on writing. I seemed to have emptied my creative well. No stories or ideas found their way to the paper. It was as though, after the doctors’ diagnosis, there was an impediment, that was there, in … Continue reading Reflections on the Seasons
No Words
By Olumide Holloway (King Olulu) Lost,Not in a wilderness,Perhaps within elements.Danger lurkingyet safety guaranteed.Cliff climbing,Harness unused,Ropes un-needed,Eyelids shutYet stumbling not.Not touching,Yet feeling.Not saying,Yet heard.Not doing,Yet achieving.Floating,No strings,No limits,No barrier.Lightweight,Yet un-carry-able.So very heavy,Yet lighting comes second,makes the word “swift” incomplete.Missing parts,Yet whole,Complete;Needing and needed,making oxygen fight for attention.Words, not enough,but heartbeats are bursting eardrums.Dreams,Living,Breathing,Reality, now scripted.You … Continue reading No Words
What if Love finds you when you stop running?
By Priyanka Pathak In a city where ambition is stitched into every seam and dreams shimmer brighter than the runway lights, Lakshi walked with purpose, her sketches tucked beneath her arm and her heart guarded by years of self-reliance. Love, she believed, was an accessory—beautiful, but never essential. Yet fate, with its own sense of … Continue reading What if Love finds you when you stop running?
Darkest before Dawn
By William Hardy ELIZA MATTHEWS 18th May, 2008 — 26th October, 2050 In my wake, I hope we meet again like we did on Earth. “What will happen to us now?” Megan said, wiping her eyes on her brother’s bed blanket. “We’ll get by somehow, but you’ll eat, okay?” Jesse said, rubbing her back. “I … Continue reading Darkest before Dawn
The Silence, the Darkness
By Rutger Middelburg I can’t remember ever being really afraid of anything. There was never any reason to, I guess. Not to fear for my actual physical safety at least. I don’t come from a neighborhood where every time you step outside is essentially a gamble against the quite considerable odds of being shot or … Continue reading The Silence, the Darkness
Fire in Her Bones
By Okereke Emmanuel Chibuike The first time I saw my mother cry, I was seven.The world had thrown another weight on her back—a bill, a betrayal, something she didn’t name. But she wiped her tears, tied her headscarf tighter, and started dinner like the storm hadn’t touched her.She was a woman with fire—not just in … Continue reading Fire in Her Bones
Fright
By Shashank (This poem describes a journey of a young boy with a heart filled with confidence of youth, but he is to stumble if he makes wrong decisions nevertheless.) The path lies deserted in frontas he looks keenlywith no fright whatsoever.Trees by the borders stand tallas he smileswith the first drop of sweat struggling … Continue reading Fright
The Long Farewell
By Sixuan Wu This story was originally published both in print and online in Issue 41 of Apprentice Writer in 2023. She could never forget the look on the doctor’s face when her hologram flickered into the hospital. The sorrow was so obvious that even she—an AI assistant who had never quite grasped the delicacy … Continue reading The Long Farewell
August Summer Competition Fiction Winner: “What the Canvas Revealed” by Farytude
Ironside was a town on the edge of boiling by the time August rolled in. By the third week of the month, the earth cracked like burnt bread. Windowpanes shimmered with trapped heat. Dogs wheezed in doorways, their eyes like dull marbles. The townspeople were exhausted and frustrated by the relentless heatwave that had dragged … Continue reading August Summer Competition Fiction Winner: “What the Canvas Revealed” by Farytude
August Summer Competition Poetry Winner: “Summer at the lake” by Rita McDermott
Originally published in Bards Across the Pond. Peering downward from the sky…A painted picture of lush green trees Sprouting up from the groundLike clumps of broccoli.A green garden surrounding a still body of water Pools of diamonds sparkling on the surface Courtesy of the sun’s radiant rays.Wooden structures jutting out from the shore Invading upon … Continue reading August Summer Competition Poetry Winner: “Summer at the lake” by Rita McDermott
Academy of the Heart And Mind 