By Maureen Barron Nellie was BIG. When she came to visit when I was small she blocked the light out in the doorway, I could see some sky above her head and some of the yard through her ankles. She would haul herself into the house by clutching either side of the door frame with … Continue reading Nellie: A Story About A Childhood Regular
Formal Request
By Allison Futterman For LMF You come to my dorm room holding your pants in your right hand. In your left is an iron, and a jacket is crisply folded and draped over your arm. I realize this is your ROTC dress uniform. You pull out a roll of iron-on fabric tape from your backpack … Continue reading Formal Request
The Nightmare in the Sky
By Frank Kowal Billy’s mother was struggling to catch her breath. She had just dodged four lanes of fast-moving city traffic and was now holding onto an old public phone across the street from her building. But because a growing crowd was staring at her—she was wearing a bare-shouldered, sparkling red, floor-length evening gown—she kept … Continue reading The Nightmare in the Sky
The Practice
By Jim Woessner With great difficulty an old man climbs a creek bank carrying a large stone that looks as if it weighs twenty pounds. Although he walks slowly and bends at the waist, he appears relatively fit for someone in his eighties. His short white hair and stubby beard accentuate the deep lines in … Continue reading The Practice
Seeking the Color of the Shadows
By Chitra Gopalakrishnan I sit with old and young relatives in Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu, in the south of India, in my aunt Radha’s home, or rather on her balmy thinnai, her long and wide red oxide porch, its polish alive and glistening at a level of perfection that can be achieved only by hundreds … Continue reading Seeking the Color of the Shadows
Grate Garden
By Alex Andy Phuong A man stepped out into the sunlight. Dawn had just came about, and then this person felthis feet upon the grass. Unfortunately, there were many weeds scattered throughout the lawn.The man toiled the soil, yet remembered the beauty of the Earth. Through love and care, thisman felt connected to the land, … Continue reading Grate Garden
The Dog Days of January
By Cat Sole It was the dog days of January, and she was dreaming of the beach. She lay in a pool of humidsweat on the single mattress, in the sunless room that was too small - and thought of blue skies, and sea-salt air, and blank sheets of paper.She thought of well-intentioned words of … Continue reading The Dog Days of January
For $2.00 She Was Mine
By Debra J. White Maxine died in 2001. I miss her terribly even now. I can still remember that dayin September 1988 when I was a social worker in a crime ridden, gang infested and run-down Bronx neighborhood. I paid $2.00 to a crack dealer for a skinny, flea infested straydog. Since then, I’ve rescued … Continue reading For $2.00 She Was Mine
The Last Stop
By Angela Johnson When Alma Leblanc looked out the window of the office building at the shadows beginning to fall across the downtown street, she knew that she was late. She had been so busy organizing and hanging the paintings that the bank had commissioned that she didn’t realize it was after 7 o’clock. She … Continue reading The Last Stop
Evocation
By Kathleen Glassburn Judith rips open an envelope from the county and pulls out a pink paper. It’s not a photographed traffic violation. She received one of those last year and paid a 240-dollar fine. It didn’t go on her record, but it’s made her even more careful. In all her forty-five years, this is … Continue reading Evocation
Academy of the Heart And Mind 