The Odd and Tender Clarity of 4 AM Kathleen McKitty Harris   Irish-American New Yorkers—especially those of the Catholic persuasion—have a knack for fatalist worst-case scenarios. Maybe it’s the indige […]

The Language of My Body by Chibuike Ukah I don’t blame my body for its language, for keeping its sacredness secure with words, its spleen tagging towards holiness and eternity, since I d […]

Booking It by E. H. Jacobs I was strolling with my wife in Brookline, Massachusetts, on a charming street with clothing and gift stores, Japanese restaurants, delis, and a […]

This year is forecast four winters and I can't save the burning world by Andreea Ceplinschi I, who have never known love like this for my kinfolk in a burning world I’m tired of loneliness rewiring this brain, tired of wasting time w […]

Yoga Today by Fred Wilbur   Among the activities of our local Parks and Recreation Department are youth sports (including cheerleading), a genealogy class, bingo, adult […]

The Bird Lives Here to Wait by Yucheng Tao ………….                                      ………To commemorate the victims of the Khmer Rouge we faced a large number of classroo […]

Lost Boots by Wendy Fontaine Wendy Fontaine is the 2nd place winner of Streetlight’s 2026 Essay/Memoir Contest I need to find my winter boots My daughter is home from c […]

The Alley by Alex Joyner Somewhere locked in geostationary orbit over Virginia, a satellite maintains its dumb stare. Prompt it with a series of numbers and you can provoke it […]

Foie Gras by Nathan Cover “What’s wrong with pear trees?” I ask, wondering if my dad is getting senile. “Well, they’re an invasive species. They’re not allowed to sell the […]

Not Unlike Damon and Pythias by Zachary Lundgren A friend once drove out of town so fast he didn’t know if he was headed north or south. He just wanted to make the coast and finally learn how t […]

2026 Poetry Contest Announcement by Fred Wilbur As I read this year’s contest entries, I accumulated a deep appreciation for the humans who invested the thought and energy to create them and who t […]

Bloodless by Martin Vest I don’t want to be eaten by a grizzly, my dad would say every time we were camping. But I wouldn’t want to be here if it weren’t possi […]

Pots for Art's Sake: A Look at Judd Jarvis's Work by Russell Hart Ceramic artist Judd Jarvis finds a thoughtful middle ground between form and function.  It’s tempting to suggest that Virginia’s famous red clay […]

The Kestrel Blues by Marjorie Gowdy   He perches      boldlyon the old phone wiredown Canning Factory Road. He sings      killy killy killya violent tune for a falconpainted in col […]

Splitting Wood by David Sapp It wasn’t when I got the hang of cursing, exquisitely and generously, tutored by the bigger kids at the back of the school bus. It wasn’t when I puf […]

On A Scale Of . . . by Wendy Kennar Wendy Kennar is the 1st place winner of Streetlight’s 2026 Essay/Memoir Contest Within my first few years of teaching, the district’s grading sys […]

Human Entanglement and Woman, Falling, 2 poems by Karl Meade Human Entanglement After they split the atom, broke our water into hydrogen, and hydrogen, and the oxygen you couldn’t breathe, we and the h […]

When My Secrets Were No Longer Mine by Jean Romano One day after school, I stepped into my room and immediately felt that something was wrong. My eyes darted to the bed, and my heart stopped. The […]

The hothouse by D S Maolalai   wondering at marriage; at what it’s really like and what it does to you – like: I know that I do love her but will it dislocate my bone […]