By Malachy Moran I have prepareda space for youfilled it withpretty thingsshiny rocks andcuttlefish bonesseagull feathersand bits of brickworn flat by the surf.I have carved all the wallswith inscriptionssnippets of vedasrunic spells.I have wafted incensein all the cornersto chase awayany evil spirits.I have turned about in placeover and over and over againto trample flat the … Continue reading Bowerheart
Losing #30
By Lee Ann Stevens I lost my first body part soon after I turned 70, a milestone that made it hard for me to deny the advancing years. It was number 30, a six-year molar, which means it had been in my mouth since first grade, when I had just learned to read and still … Continue reading Losing #30
New Book “Real and Otherwise” by Channie Greenberg
A new book of Channie Greenberg's, one devoted to art, Real and Otherwise, has launched. Many of its images originally appeared in The Academy of the Heart and Mind.
Puzzle
By S. G. Dorrity Emptied out, Falling into each other, stumbling and grasping for something to hold,We were lost and missing a few,Struggling to make that complete picture advertised on the box. Coming together, grouped and joined, It all started to become more recognisable, A vague shape in the clouds, comparable to the animals of … Continue reading Puzzle
so i’m supposed to be writing a poem
By Joy Jia so I’m supposed to be writing a poem. I’m supposed to be writing a poem but what I’m actually doing is putting italics on words to pad out the line count, because that’s what I’m really good at, at the end of the day. Padding things out, I mean. Scraping by. Making … Continue reading so i’m supposed to be writing a poem
The Gravestone
By Lewis Brett Smiler Dan could not believe how much clutter his Aunt Sarah had left behind. She was such a hoarder. The number of books she had collected was probably more than the local library. Dan wondered how many of these books were still in print. Would he be able to sell them for … Continue reading The Gravestone
Love Song Competition Poetry Co-Winner: “Learning to Love in Another Language” by Haley DiRenzo
Once you’ve mastered introductions,directions, small talk conversations about family and weekend plansOnce certain sentences form themselves with ease, skipping the stop between head and mouth Then how do you describe your heartbeat in another country? Dreams that weave in and outtangled in two different tongues? How do you say, I want to trace the freckles … Continue reading Love Song Competition Poetry Co-Winner: “Learning to Love in Another Language” by Haley DiRenzo
Love Song Competition Fiction Winner: “Easy Like Manicotti” by Angie Curneal Palsak
The garage door creaks open, and Ned, who probably shouldn’t be driving, eases his car in. The headlights slice through the cluttered garage, revealing a teetering stack of Amazon boxes piled on a wobbly sofa table against the wall. The headlights also illuminate the garage walls, plastered with our old posters of punk bands we … Continue reading Love Song Competition Fiction Winner: “Easy Like Manicotti” by Angie Curneal Palsak
Love Song Competition Poetry Co-Winner: “A Winter Love Poem” by James G. Piatt
“Peace, my heart, let the time for parting be sweet. Let it not be death but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.” Rabindranath Tagore Winter sneaked up on us this past year, warning us that our time was near. And, as a clock struck the late hour of the night, we … Continue reading Love Song Competition Poetry Co-Winner: “A Winter Love Poem” by James G. Piatt
Winners of the February Contest
Here are the winners of our second 2025 Contest! The dates next to their names will be the day their work will be posted to our website. Note that we have co-winners for our poetry prize because there were no submissions to our Nonfiction pool. 26: Poetry Co-Winner: James G. Piatt 27: Fiction Winner: Angie … Continue reading Winners of the February Contest
Academy of the Heart And Mind 