Plain Speak
By Carl Palmer — I write the way I talk, with a slow, southern drawl. I don't use five dollar words. Simple ones say the same thing. Words with a slew of syllables.
Jul 19
Vietnam Letters
By Karol Nielsen — My father was in ROTC at the University of Nebraska where he was a chemical engineering student. After graduating, he became a
Jul 16
#reality
By Brendan Dawson — How I could get curious about sound bites found among like-button friends hidden in the mega bits in the fringes of the Internet? I feel
Jul 14
Wildly Alive
By Lana Hechtman Ayers — My grandmother lived in a tenement. When I enter the graffitied hallway of her building, it reeked of human urine and
Jul 11
Scrolling
By Kimberly Rowe — What happens when I am waiting? It depends on what I am waiting for. I try to get to my son’s school early enough to get a parking spot.
Jul 8
SONG FOR ANDY
By Vicki L W Graff — I hear a voice inside me sayin’ that Andy’s never comin’ home. I fold my hands and sit here prayin' that he's okay. The voice is wrong.
Jul 5
impatience
By Mari M. Bianco — You pull up to the same "safe" place where you became impatient. No, it's inpatient. 30 years ago. Same gray day. Same damp drizzle.
Jul 2
Towards a Greater Understanding
By Mark Wolters — How could I tell these people what was on my mind without them thinking I was mad? Why should it matter if they believed I was mad anyway? The first act of free will is
Jun 29
Painkillers
By Tamizh Ponni, VP — A spoonful of honey and a glass of water follows the single gulp of Cyclopam. To put a gag on the gag. "Another month off the life chart."
Jun 25
Reaching old age
By Colin Ian Jeffery — Time fleeting in its passing, spurring memories, recalling images of long ago when life seemed endless, safe from death's stalking
Jun 22
Everyone Has Covid
By Suzanne D. Miller — Everyone has Covid. Hyperbole but true. Everyone has Covid. I'm boosted. Hey, are you? Everyone has Covid. Yet restaurants still
Jun 19
Slow Dance with the Light
By Danny P. Barbare — Work to a shine. No fuss about it. Direct and grime. Square as a tile. Proper, gentle and kind with a shout out loud. Proud with a smile
Jun 16
Paul Klee’s Rising Star
By John Brantingham — Klee has drawn the elements of a man’s face, eyes, nose, lips, cheeks, and he includes what rises inside him, a star that would clarify to others
Jun 12
the convict child
By Yuna Kang — Before the "curiosity" of fools, before the schooling of fish, before the rose grew thorns. Maybe she wasn't a convict? Maybe she wasn't stupid?
Jun 9
Nothing Left to Lose
Celia Jeffries — Rose Kennedy’s coffin was being transported up Route 3 from the Cape, followed by a couple of buses full of the Kennedy family. It was a cold day
Jun 6
Hospital Delirium
By David Obuchowski — The patient’s name is David. He’s a 45-year-old male. On December 2nd, he had a small bowel resection as well as a, and here they always
May 31
We Don't Talk About the Pandemic Anymore
By Chuck Rybak — They ebbed. We helped them. We fed the belly beef. Be well. They ebbed. The MD meted the med medly. ML, MG. Yet the temp fell
May 28
New Home
By Jan Wiezorek — Trailer, give me my new home, cuddly, as a furry animal crawling, digging itself out of a wall, animated as cockroaches. The impact of
May 25
If Peace Was A Dancer
By M. L. Lyons — Peace loves the dulcet tones and only sidesteps the goose footed, the overly rigid, but laughs with the flat-footed, the eager, the shy who
May 21