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 bones? marriage – what then is the piston? what engine drives my father? who will I try to impress? it must be like a headcold – like giving up one of your senses. now it’s summer – I’m single – I walk and see women – temptation still blooms with the red sweating stamin of tropical flowers year round the botanical hothouse. and sometimes wearing clothes … Continue reading The hothouse by D S Maolalai→
Sukey Gap Graveyard The road here is pocked with holes, graves strung mostly in mistflower or phlox, apt to spread airy trails. Not a place for plastic lilies who squall into the quiet, but moss with enough give to muffle the whole of your existence, let a mythology larger than your own encompass the knee, the folded hands, words dampening what’s left of sunken or toppled names. One stone says Perninia, my third great grandmother, who holds open the iron gate then closes it behind me, and flies softly into the trees. She sings from … Continue reading Mind the Gap by Sharon Perkins Ackerman→
“The deer stood like a blessing, then vanished.” —Jane Hirschfield, “Standing Deer” And this is how it is when I see the two-point, forty feet away, straight down the sidewalk, poised and watchful. And because it’s a blessing, I move to the other side of the road in order not to spook him, to startle him out of my sphere of awareness, because I want the blessing to last, this vision of the unexpected and its mysterious presence here in the summer dusk, having crossed the barrier between the mundane world I walk in … Continue reading A Block Off Henderson by Chris Dahl→
I was listening to NPR on my way home from the dentist today and it turned out to be one of those shows I carried into my house when I got home. The show was about mattering. And how mattering is a meta-need—one that is above the other needs like significance, purpose, or belonging. It turns out we need to feel valued and to feel like we are adding value. This isn’t just a nice, woo-woo part of life, supported by affirmations. This is a nitty-gritty, down to our very core, need. Without it, we risk turning … Continue reading Mattering To Fiona by Ginger Moran→
He took his bike from under the porch and rode down the driveway and out onto the sidewalk. He rode around the corner and east on 47th Street past the Ford house and the other homes that all knew decent lives within. He rode around to the other side of the block, a short distance all in all, and then he was coasting up in front of Mark’s house, where Mark was already carrying bricks out to the sidewalk. Gabriel stopped and stood straddling his bike. Come on, Mark said. Are you going to help … Continue reading Two Homes by Douglas Cole→
If you’ve shopped at Aldi, the German-based grocery that’s expanding around the U.S., then you know their shopping cart system. You insert a quarter into the cart handle to unlock the chain attached to the next cart. When you return the cart, you can retrieve your quarter. I love this system. For one thing, it’s efficient. People don’t leave carts strewn around the lot, so the company doesn’t have to hire employees to retrieve them. That’s one reason it can sell a large bag of tortilla chips for under two bucks and a half gallon … Continue reading For the Sake of a Quarter by Gayla Mills→
My favorite television cowboy was the Lone Ranger because he didn’t sing, he didn’t kill Indians for the fun of it, and he wasn’t even a cowboy. He was a hero with an Indian for a sidekick. His horse was named Silver. It was a white horse, which is the best kind of horse for a hero because you can always see him coming. His bullets were made of silver. They were very expensive. This meant he couldn’t waste them. This meant he was a damn good shot. His black mask was the stark geometry … Continue reading The Lone Ranger Alone by J.R. Solonche→
There are times when Dr. Amanda Mullen’s visage takes on that of a lion tamer about to open the locked gate to the ring where the lions are gathered for them to be put through their traces; or, the look of a guide in Denali National Park on a trail in brown bear country, with an air of utter respect but also with an eye on possible danger. Dr. Mullen is sitting across from me as I recount how I have been blindsided. I tend to be a scrupulous planner, especially when I take Tevis … Continue reading Blindsided by Wally Swist→
Nigerian artist Imran Abiola Sulola started by taking pictures of the sun and the moon. Then in 2021, what began as a hobby changed after seeing photographs taken by Martins Deep, poet, portrait photographer and Facebook friend. “His profound, aesthetically edited photographs became the beginning of my portrait photography,” he remembers. Self-taught, Sulola says he immersed himself in YouTube videos and watched the work of other Nigerian photographers including Ilemobayo Ojo, Adesina Taofeek. Michael Emerald and Deborah Ajilore, “Their beautiful works have been an inspiration for me to keep exploring the digital art space,” he says. … Continue reading Nigerian Photographer Focuses on Self Portraits→
I thought it was all behind me remission said my doctor now only periodic PET scans to be sure only blood tests to double check numbers months of chemo, nausea and mouth sores left behind on a distant shore sailing easily on a salty breeze no worries weighing me down what I didn’t know is that remission means never really left behind cancer walking silently beside you like a shadow a part of your life forever like your best friend from first grade listen, can you hear the waves swooshing as you sail near the … Continue reading Left Behind by Claire Rubin Scott→
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