By Hannah Earley The Demetren Fields had a reputation for attracting wanderers searching for answers to their woes. The wind was a wraith carrying the fields’ whispers to their ears, urging them toward its isolation on the outskirts of town. The tall, yellow grasses were roiling waves with the wild gales and grew into a … Continue reading To Pick a Lock
Insurmountable Differences
By Dawn DeBraal Casey signed, leaning against the door. She’d met her soulmate. Mark was perfect. He had a flawless smile and olive skin and was mannerly, charismatic, and considerate. She’d run out of positive adjectives to describe Mark to her parents and friends. He was husband material, and she thought of him that way … Continue reading Insurmountable Differences
Botanizing
By Jim Bates They were two brothers exploring hills and fields, breathing the rarefied air and escaping for a time the noise and grime of the city, looking for something deeper, more meaningful. They’d walk through deep woods, cool and green in the first light of early morning dawn. They’d tromp across warm meadows fragrant … Continue reading Botanizing
CPD
By Reeve Chudd Sometimes, an arithmetic or statistical obsession in someone can be annoying, but my nephew’s discriminatory feeding calculations are a constant source of pride and envy for me. My brother, Bart, and his wife, Cindy, worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID, for short) and lived somewhere near Lima, Peru, … Continue reading CPD
The Dauntless
By S. I. Rocco I knew nothing of boats and even less of the deep, glittering waters of Bar Harbor, Maine. Yet as I reflect on that August at sea some thirty years ago, I do not recall even a trace of fear. I remember the eight-hour car ride, the furthest I had ever been … Continue reading The Dauntless
The Heart of the Matter
By Mary Walsh Foley Stella rose at six. Walking through the dewy fields, she keenly felt her parents’ presence. The sky was streaked mauve and grey. She heard a bird rustling in the brambles and a snipe flew up from the long grass. The horizon was shrouded in a thin veil of fog. Running in … Continue reading The Heart of the Matter
Blue
By Rachel Wilson Bobby McKenna says I can’t like blue because I’m a girl so I tell him blue’s my favorite color. He tells me girls are supposed to like pink and I ask him why and he says because it’s a girl color and I tell him that’s silly I don’t like pink. I … Continue reading Blue
Fox and Other Poems
By Leda Nichole Fox clever little trickster unconcerned with gods or monsters or Mortals she does what she wants with no conscience to hold her back Regret the little flower does not care if today really is today or yesterday or tomorrow it doesn’t care if its leaves are uneven or the stem grows crooked … Continue reading Fox and Other Poems
Sylvia’s Lullaby
By Jillian Flexner They were down to their last three dollars. They had sold everything they conceivably could live without from their little cottage – even their tin silverware. Well, they called it a cottage but it was really more of a hovel, left to only nature’s defenses. Now, they were desperate. Sylvia stared into … Continue reading Sylvia’s Lullaby
One Africa
By Langa Moore My fellow brothers and sistersPlease have mercyAren't we all AfricansWe were cradled in the same continentI know life is hardI know jobs are scarceI came here to look for helpNot to be a problem Not to steal your jobsMy fellow brothers and sistersPlease spare my lifeAt least let me goto the land … Continue reading One Africa
Academy of the Heart And Mind 