By Khadijah Ali-Coleman i pick up and put away fallen toys and random pieces of clothes and imagine my life before. when floors were bare and so was the refrigerator and there was no rush to fill it nor prepare dinner because “who eats?” on Fridays anyway, not me & i exhale winded after constant [...]
Moving
By Tamara Madison On our way back East, Bud took me to the Oklahoma panhandle to visit his Cherokee granddad. Grandpa lived with Grandma in a rickety country house in a little town that Grandpa owned. He kept his deeds to the town and the oil land around it in buckets under his bed. He [...]
Absence
by Wendy Brown-Baez walls. Remembering how you told me you wake up at three, I awake. I need no mention of dreams. I carry them stillborn over the threshold of this place so mine because it belongs to you. Even your lover cannot creep between us when I cradle you in my hunger. When I [...]
I Could Have Been Throwing a Red Rubber Ball for a Dog
By KJ Hays I was at your February wedding Susan; a ceremony where a couple of families spend money to convince a gathering of well wishers that their kids have never had sex together. I stood towards the end of a row of ribbon spangled chairs that made it look like we had all moved [...]
Internet Inferno
by Diane Boisvert Life is tough enough, isn’t it? We battle each day to get by. We groan and grumble – Complain and mumble things under our breath. Just to put us to the test enters – THE COMPUTER WORM Horror of horrors! What is this thing?? It acts as though It’s a king or [...]
La Petit Mort
It washes over me sensuously. Kissing my toes, circling my ankles, Swirling around my knees. As the feeling reaches higher, Frothy tendrils play on my thighs Cupping my ass (the way you used to do) Secretly swimming near warmer places That’s when I notice the cold. A thought whispered in my brain, That this thing [...]
We are Texas
This is where it began. The eternal fields that fed us and nurtured us, The curious birds that chattered and gazed down at us from the pecan trees, The animal families that lurked in the bushes, Hoping to catch a glimpse of the strange smelling Intruders. We came here and Built a house, Built a [...]
Have You?
By John Kalpatrick “Have You?” Have you ever listened, have you ever heard, As trees bend low and sigh? Have you ever paused, and watched a bird Swiftly passing by?
Ash Street
By Joe Patterson Do you remember those shimmering stars? I do. You always loved those shiny things. I stood beneath them that night. You stood among them. Yes, through the cold. Through the rain clouds that had since passed. I mean, there weren’t too many bright spots for me those days to compare. But you [...]
Worse Date Ever
By Diane Boisvert It had promised to be a time in heaven – unsurpassed. It was blind. I didn’t mind. It was a date, alas! I was assured the guy was great. I couldn’t wait at all. Turns out, though, this charming Joe was with himself enthralled. He talked and talked and talked. When he [...]
