Category: Fiction
-
Johnny Ace at the Pearly Gates by Jeffrey Hantover
Johnny Ace (John Marshall Alexander, Jr.)December 25, 1954 The last week in December was always a busy period for St. Peter. Many of the infirm and the aged who willed themselves to make it to Christmas expired a day or two after the holiday having triumphantly crossed the finish line.…
-
Altered by Christina Rousseau
There’s a peculiar amount of freedomthat comes with losing everything. The colors of my life dance around meas they are stripped away. Rosy reds of my blood that once washed my cheeksreminding me that I could feel. Soft purples of being held. They gather on my skin and detach from…
-
Politics of the Dog & Pangea in Wartime by William Dell Price
Politics of the Dog I love dogs more than people.Dogs are quiet, people are loudAnd when dogs are loud, there is a muzzle for themYou put a muzzle on a person, you’re called “mad” Dogs don’t need clothesWe accept them nudeYou force someone to walk naked, it’s called “abuse” You…
-
Melting Clocks by Jeremy Stelzner
Salvador Dali dines alone.Gaunt and afflicted with the weight of a thousand brushstrokes.He speaks in the third person,politely ordering a tapa of roasted veal with an asparagus coulis. When it arrives, Dali studies the plump meat.Alone on the plate,it glistens with all the artistry the chef de cuisine can muster.The…
-
Two Black Dresses by Jonathan Ferrini
Every day at three o’clock as the afternoon sun fought through the dusty windows and the high school down the street let out, a teenage girl would slip quietly into the boutique. She never spoke, never bought anything, just wandered to the same rack and lingered over a particular black…
-
Centering by Jim Bates
SpringtimePlanting radish seedsDiligently wateringCarefully caringEmergingPeeking through the rich soilFlourishingEnticing honeybeesGently buzzingHypnoticIn the morning sunDrifting and dancingNectar drinkingSlurping with a diligent passionSummertime daily delightPeaceful mediationsFor the gratefulSpirit. Jim Bates lives in a small town in Minnesota. He loves to write! He has authored 33 books, including poetry, flash fiction, short story…
-
Winter in My Garden by George Freek
Summer’s flowers are gone.All that’s leftare decaying remains.The trees are bare;Yet I can recallwhen leaves were there.In my garden a hammock,where my wife used to lie,creaks in a bitter wind,descending from the sky.As winter approaches,I talk to my cat,to the moon and the stars.They have nothing to say.That is their…
-
Devotion by Huina Zheng
She used to believe. Obedient, gentle and considerate since childhood, Ling washed dishes, mopped floors, folded laundry, and cared for her younger brother, doing everything her parents expected. But now, for the first time, she began to doubt. She stared at the phone in her hand. Her mother’s voice still…
-
Salty by Charley Lenton-Lyons
Do slugs look at snailswith resentment?Similar in form,gifted the home they weren’tafforded. A cosy place toput your foot up atthe end of a tough day. Furiously munching weeds,wishing the birds wouldrainsaltdownon their affluent neighbours. Shells vacated –ready for new tenants. Charley Lenton-Lyons is a UK-based poet with a background in…