A Literary Magazine Sponsored by The University of Maine at Farmington
by Turner Wilson “Honeymoon” Our omelets were stiff hotel pillowslaundered with creme fraiche. Wooddeck slats heated with the smellof lacquer. Her lungs: a treeshifting in the wind. There’s nothingon TV; … Continue Reading “Honeymoon” and “Moment of Silence”
by Hafsa Mumtaz (Author’s Note: This poem is inspired by the painting Midnight (1979) by Pakistan’s most famous female artist, Zubeida Agha. https://www.artsy.net/artwork/zubeida-agha-midnight ) “Snippets of You” an excrescence of … Continue Reading “Snippets of You”
by Carolyn Adams “Thunder Dream” In her dreaming,she rides with the stars,their splinters in her hair.The slant path of some beaminterrupts the sacred blackof the interstellar.She cruises on.Cut moons, meteors, … Continue Reading “Thunder Dream” and “Big Bang”
by Daniela Lilly A left eye, twitchingSince the bread knife disappearedFrom the first kitchen drawer Knock, knock. Choking, on luke-warmwater from the neighbour’sMouth-wringing hose Who’s there? An unmistakably laden smellFrom … Continue Reading “I remember it all now.”
by Vivian Eyre “Ode to Fudgie the Whale” Oh, first loves always hold their power. When I saw you through that cellophane window of the Carvel box, my shadow vanished … Continue Reading “Ode to Fudgie the Whale” and “Aquarium”
by William Miller “Job’s Children” Below that blue-black sky, a goat-hair tent collapsed by a sudden desert storm, they died together. A faith test under Satan’s wings, planned to seem … Continue Reading “Job’s Children” and “Gender Unicorn”
by Peggy Hammond “Firsts” I know I rode my tricycle, we named her Ginger, off the front porch. I have the scar. When training wheels were removed, I don’t remember … Continue Reading “Firsts,” “Lasts,” and “Returning in November”
by Dallas Raquel Klein “Gathering” “night swim after matrimony” for Richard Anderson and Christopher Ryan Shaver on their wedding day fireflies birth night light and I invite the river to … Continue Reading “Gathering” and “night swim after matrimony”
by Thanisha Santhosh “The cure for most things” While trying to find a cure for AIDS, scientists in the Mayo clinic created glow-in-the-dark cats -imagine a whole family made bioluminescent- mother … Continue Reading “The cure for most things,” “Pamplemousse,” and “Your Succulents And Other Reasons To Stay”
by S. J. Stephens “Between Dreams and Place” Sun, betrayed by late-winter breeze warms my skin through deck slats. I close my eyes and raise to the heat, in quiet … Continue Reading “Between Dreams and Place ” and “A Constant Punch”
by Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan is a keen writer of Izzi, Abakaliki ancestry. He is a medical laboratory science student, a Forward Prize nominee, a Best of the Net nominee, and … Continue Reading “underwater”
by Nattie O’Sheggzy “A NIGHT WITH HENRY JAMES” I know I must have offended some god The colour of which I cannot discern With these sleep-drought eyes Stretched taut with … Continue Reading “A Night With Henry James” and “The Making of an Old Season”
by R. T. Castleberry “TO BEAUTY, UNFAMILIAR” On smoke-drift Sundays, wintry morning winds, the amused allure of dead romance wrings wry couplets, astringent rules of discourse. Both sides rescued from … Continue Reading “To Beauty, Unfamiliar” and “Leaving the War”
By Lucia Haase Phantoms of fogwalk into morningthroughout the forest,stretching – yawning… secreted faunain shadows, creepby fern and brackenyet asleep. Cool winds howl,a kind of calling-forest wolveshunting…crawling. Watchers watchingin the … Continue Reading Episode
By Rachel Tanner sunday mornings we wake and you stretch limbs over me protectively,kiss my forehead, breathe my own nameback into my mouth. we’ve been doing thisfor months now and it … Continue Reading sundays
By William Heath The pickers are long gone,just a few men have jobs.Cotton choppers replaced bycrop-dusting planes sprayingweed-killing poison. Greenmachines resembling giganticgrasshoppers, bloated binsfor bellies, gobble cotton,leaving only the ends … Continue Reading The Shack