A Literary Magazine Sponsored by The University of Maine at Farmington
by Thomas Elson “5th Avenue and South Second Street” One evening in this dying river town on the eastern part of the state – whose biggest exports are corn … Continue Reading “5th Avenue and South Second Street” and “Golden Years”
by Bruce Robinson “Henry’s Room” When the wind blows the door closedand shuts Henry inside the bathroom,he’s perhaps reminded of the mysteryof the shrewd proviso, or concerned aboutthe erstwhile inviolabilityof … Continue Reading “Henry’s Room” and “Birds on Parole”
by Gerard Sarnat “Redneck Tell No Lies” “You like tomato and I like tomahtoLet’s call the whole thing off” -Ira and George Gershwin Gerard Sarnat has been nominated for the … Continue Reading “Redneck Tell No Lies”
by Charles Weld “Home Manufactures” We could call the creek behind the school Sea Cook Creek because that’s where our black lab, dead years ago now, dove without warning into … Continue Reading “Home Manufactures,” “Acorns in a Mast Year,” “Moosehead Lake,” “Nature Did That,” and “American Bittern”
by Phil Huffy “Lake Death” The killer left few clues that might be found. The violence could not have lasted long. Right to the heart a mighty shock did pound, … Continue Reading “Lake Death” and “Natural Causes”
by Clover Estrada Part One. The scars that trace down my skin,past my shoulders and down my backto my arms, to my arms, to my arms – They leave reflections … Continue Reading “Your flowers, my garden”
by Mark Jackley “NEW YEAR’S EVE” Upon inventing the puzzle, our forebears left the garden, searching for answers, oddly shaped pieces of the picture. Tonight, uncounted snowflakes land on cars, … Continue Reading “NEW YEAR’S EVE,” “BODY AND SOUL,” “JANUARY DREAM,” and “THE LAST HOUSE YOU LIVED IN”
by Don Thompson “Little Elegy” Last night I found her name Listed in the catalog Of dead sisters. Just one of many—so many. Touching it, my finger burned, My tongue … Continue Reading “Little Elegy,” “Kansas, 1950 “Dirge,” and “Nunc Dimmittus”
by Jeanne Julian “Stalled” Once, I was corralled into competing against other tense and giddy youthful thespians delivering emotive monologues. Mid- recitation— mental block. Suspense. Voice stopped, choked by … Continue Reading “Stalled,” “The Familiar,” and “The Visitation”
by Darrell Dela Cruz “Ars Poetica” -For the Watergarden The pain has no singular outlet, dispersed amongst the nerves amplified in the spread which you rub as … Continue Reading “Ars Poetica,” “Nude Illusion,” and “Post Verbal”
by Cordelia Hanemann “alone” for Louis as for all “Second Honeymoon” a meditation on Bobbie Ann Mason’s “Shiloh” At Shiloh dead soldiers march across green new grass. “We could begin … Continue Reading “alone,” “Second Honeymoon,” “Domestic Strife,” “auto-manic,” and “(St) Eve
by Anonymous Troops of soldiers march down the horizon-wide pathin unison trying to make us believe everything is in order. A few of them perhaps still working to believe the … Continue Reading Republic Day juxtaposition
by Eugene Stevenson “To La Scala in the Rain” Ten hours late Octoberthrough New York rain,over Atlantic storms,under Milanese fog, toLa Scala in mist & rain. No sleep, as if … Continue Reading “To La Scala in the Rain,” “June Brides,” and “Guilty of Something”
by John Tustin “CREST” My body riding on the Crest Of your body The waves of us Undulating Under the moon That guides our Force Toward the blankets of shore … Continue Reading “Crest” and “Funeral Poem Painted on Silk”
by Thomas Elson “Her Toast Untouched” “Visiting Again” “One Morning Each Week” Thomas Elson’s stories appear in numerous venues, including Ellipsis, Better Than Starbucks, Bull, Cabinet of Heed, Flash Frontier, … Continue Reading “Her Toast Untouched,” “Visiting Again,” and “One Morning Each Week”
By Robert Pfeiffer “Adult Swim“ “Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears” -William Wordsworth “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” You emerge once more into the world, lungs aching for … Continue Reading “Adult Swim,” “Social Anxiety,” “Taking a Nap with You,” “How to Keep it Going,” and “Summer Storm”