The Nest
I remember being fidgety, my unfinished body unable to settle into the icy, still dark of our shared room. Several other heartbeats (“practically an army,” my mother would say) filled … Continue Reading The Nest
Barkskins
Jim Krosschell’s poems and essays have appeared in some 70 journals, and hehas published two essay collections: One Man’s Maine, which won a MaineLiterary Award, and Owls Head Revisited. He … Continue Reading Barkskins
Maybe it’s time to go home
stop trying so hard to force these puzzle pieces of the past together time to stop remembering how you looked that last time and what I said and what now … Continue Reading Maybe it’s time to go home
Horror Novel
Handsome Mark Sampson is coming, crossing the Northumberland Strait, a tanned satchel strapped on his back like a quiver, plump with pages from a new novel, chapters that taste like … Continue Reading Horror Novel
A Small Boast
Rainwater pooled in a stump’s tiny depression: the sipping Frosted Elfin sees her two wings double. Dressed in tweed surely too hot for this June day, she seems not to … Continue Reading A Small Boast
Farewell, young flame.
Fire danced in her eyes, a blistering heat that taunted her, a slow cascade back and forth before her face, close but never touching, testing how close it could get. … Continue Reading Farewell, young flame.
Bullied – Blog Post #5
Prompt: Were you ever bullied as a child? Tell a story of a time you were bullied, or a time you observed someone being bullied. TW: Bullying — I have been bullied, though not in the typically assumed way. I wasn’t bullied by other kids in my town. I was bullied by my siblings.
The End
Dedicated to Hind Rajab, Sonya Massey, and all the lives unjustly taken. Trigger Warning: mentions of death and gore The dust, the sand, the street. The ghost of a fleeting … Continue Reading The End
First Kiss – Prompt #4
TW: Panic attack, slight depressive spiral – “Oh, god, what did I do? Why did I do it? Why did I say that to her? Why? I know how she feels about that kind of stuff. At least, I have an idea,” Lux says frantically, pacing back and forth in their room, Camilla sitting on the edge of their bed worried as they start to spiral.
Deceptive in the Night
It’s inevitable, the trees that light up like fireflies in the night. It’s inevitable, the darkness that seeps into the land every morning. It’s inevitable, the curse of a thousand … Continue Reading Deceptive in the Night
Tattoo – Prompt #3
TW: Mentions of mental health and self-harm, polyamorous relationship
I do have a tattoo. I got it with Aurora, Andrew and Camilla. It was Aurora’s idea. We were walking through a seaport town when she saw a stall where this guy was giving tattoos. Her eyes lit up and she started tugging on my sleeve, turning to the three of us and pleading.
Suite for Tonawanda
The sickle moon clusters like gauze in willows that flank roadways a woman in a dark window gazes down on. Dusk deepens to the steep blue of her eyes. She … Continue Reading Suite for Tonawanda
Heaven is a Plate on Earth
My husband and I are out on a hunt. With a machete in hand, I cut of three-headed mushrooms that run rampant in this part of the woods like some … Continue Reading Heaven is a Plate on Earth
On the Beach
We lurch through good morningthe boat between ustucking in the edges of tarpswhile trying to keep up my end of how are the kids?I am thinkingyou kissed me right herewhere … Continue Reading On the Beach
Violets (After William Fuller)
Let me continue by saying here, despite obvious advances to the contrary, that the obvious answer to the obvious question is obvious and that no amount of arguing about it, … Continue Reading Violets (After William Fuller)
The Last Kiss
Trigger Warning: Implied abusive relationship, implied coerced sex Power drums within you, flames raking up your chest and through your nose, but you push back your magic for fear of … Continue Reading The Last Kiss