By Aston Lester I met a cardinal today. She sits atop a branch and sings down to me about the world she has seen. Her songs are beautiful, I thought. Louisiana is all I’ve known, all I’ve had the chance to love, and then a being like her flies into my life and shows me … Continue reading I Met a Cardinal Today
showdown and tabula rasa
By RC deWinter showdown lucky in card unlucky in love so old cardsharks say the inverse isn't true i play the hands i'm dealt eights and aces at the table and in love so ante up you brash bold gamblers i'll raise you every time i’m the great dissembler prepare to lose your shirts my … Continue reading showdown and tabula rasa
Losing Friends
By Victor Schwartzman Earnest stood on the edge of a cliff. He hated losing friends. People came and went. He hated losing connections. He hated losing people. Casual friends dropped out as casually as they dropped in. Some were charming and he missed them. Those losses caused some pain. People he’d known for years was … Continue reading Losing Friends
The Pigeon Man
By Tim Law They call me the pigeon man, and I guess they are not wrong. I left my family home back in the eighties when my wife suddenly died. I walked the streets of old London Town for a bit before I made a new home with others like me. We hung out around … Continue reading The Pigeon Man
Feather in the Balcony
By Ranjit Kulkarni A few minutes earlier I saw the two of them on the branch of the tree. Right there in front of my balcony. Murmurs. Cooing. One of them nuzzling the other. Some silence. Some song. Singing in the soft drizzle? A swishing of the neckless head to clear the waters after it … Continue reading Feather in the Balcony
The Broken Journey
By Susan Cleveland Trying to keep her emotions in check, Lisa Gordon removed her smock and stepped outside of the coffee shop where she worked. The boss had just given her a warning, citing a complaint that'd been made. In her defense, Lisa maintained the irritable man would have probably benefited more from drinking the … Continue reading The Broken Journey
Poems by Stephen Kingsnorth
Reel Journeys Few weekend miles I pedal bike through juggernauts, a colporteur, of imaginations, peddler, to change her library books, as scout to scour travel shelves for tomes, to take round globe poor-sight shut-in. I, from saddle, expedition lead, survey routes, change climate, clime, prepare her passage, appoint path, sail wave, hack jungle … Continue reading Poems by Stephen Kingsnorth
Poems by Umar Yogiza Jr
the silent bird in us with broken wings this is the silent hum of a bird in us with broken wings remember all the sacrifice that has gone into this healing— elope if it's the only chance of your survival call out to ahmadu bello of more than fifty years ago if … Continue reading Poems by Umar Yogiza Jr
Photography by Christopher Woods
Christopher Woods is a writer, teacher and photographer who lives in Chappell Hill, Texas. He has published a novel, THE DREAM PATCH, a prose collection, UNDER A RIVERBED SKY, and a book of stage monologues for actors, HEART SPEAK. His photographs can be seen in his gallery -http://christopherwoods.zenfolio.com/ . His photography prompt book for writers, FROM VISION TO … Continue reading Photography by Christopher Woods
Poems by D.S. Maolalai
Stone dead. my mam used to say each summer in the garden that "a bee will get in your ear and burrow down and it'll sting you stone dead" - perhaps to teach me I should clean my earwax. though I don't know - is that a common lesson? sitting at the table … Continue reading Poems by D.S. Maolalai
Academy of the Heart And Mind 