By Brenda Mox Her bitterness seemed to wither like flowers in a crystal vase, on the hinges of his words, full of fairy delights bursting forth with pops of color, singing like a Sunday smile. Caught in the magic of moments in the fire bathed parlor casting warm glows on the sides of their face, … Continue reading Love’s Light
The Boar
By Vicki Smith She could hear it rooting and grunting in the yard almost every night. She was afraid to go outside because it would savage her if she got too close. Well, if she could kill it, it would provide enough food for a whole winter. But how? She didn’t own a gun. “I’ll … Continue reading The Boar
Safe Passage at the Symphony
By Alan Swope While listening to “Night on Bald Mountain” performed by the San Francisco Symphony The hall a Roman galley pulled by rowing bows, guided by the conductor’s baton. Its hull a haven from a world of losses. Billows of sound surge toward, around the silver-haired listeners as they plunge through timeless waters. So … Continue reading Safe Passage at the Symphony
Pomegranate
By Gal Podjarny Previously Published in Cafe Lit Magazine Nothing like an afternoon light to soften childhood memories. Last week, I opened a pomegranate. I decrowned it, made two circular cuts all around, and opened it into quarters. The red seeds huddling sent me to the past. Here I am, a scrawny kid, wavy brown … Continue reading Pomegranate
2085 / Europa
By Mitchell D. Kowitz It was the year 2085. There are presently three countries that now have outposts on the Moon. The United States, China and Israel. My name is Matt and I am part of a global experimental project called “Adam”. There has been a discovery on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. The probe … Continue reading 2085 / Europa
Bathed Sands: A Villanelle
By Joseph DuPre “I have a pain upon my forehead here.” Even now, after years have passed away, I feel something shatter my mended peace, when I hear your bittersweet name. That moment, although short and petty, turns me into a bull trapped in Spain; the same even now, after years have passed away. As … Continue reading Bathed Sands: A Villanelle
Songs for Dreams of Peace and Other Poems
By Beedo Song for Dreams of Peace To serene wives of active care, Who know not what to dream: Lend me tears of unspent fair, For lonesome droughts my beam. Unkindly fate once did pretend To give to me a love and friend; To this, we fill the night with mourning song! 'Cross seas he … Continue reading Songs for Dreams of Peace and Other Poems
Funny Bone
By Reeve Chudd “Ow!” I screamed as my longtime internist, Dr. Art McLean, gently touched the large purple and brown bruise on my right side. “I told you it was tender, Art!”. “Yeah, OK, Ben, but we’ve gotta get an X-ray to see whether something’s broken or fractured in there. How did you get this?” … Continue reading Funny Bone
Black Orphaned Boy
By Nwokoye Emmanuel Maduabuchi Yesterday when I returned from tears, My Mum told me of the Land of no return. With tears she recalled that day, when the bright dawn merged with the darkened mist; As the Manuelita embarked on a voyage that now made me a ‘Black Orphaned Boy’. “Kiss with tears its shores”, … Continue reading Black Orphaned Boy
needles in hard-boiled eggs
By Kaothar Kadir she’s slim, small but fierce. and she’s seen her nine chicks out of the pouring mid-October rain, the one that tears the roofs off of buildings like i tear off the top of a loaf of warm bread. she’s seen them out the rare hawk that roams and steals chicks away in … Continue reading needles in hard-boiled eggs
Academy of the Heart And Mind 