A Literary Magazine Sponsored by The University of Maine at Farmington
The River is a representation of the Sandy River itself, which runs alongside the university and what inspired the name of the journal. It is a constantly flowing, ebbing and surging, body of content filled with contemporary work. To submit to The River please visit our Submissions page to the left or e mail TheRiverEditors@gmail.com directly.
By Art Moore for Susan Musgrave free verse for felons, his girlfriend, a handgun poet who answered hotel room doors barely dressed, bare breasted, shoulder holster, checkered walnut handle the … Continue Reading “for Susan Musgrave”, “Prom Dress”, “mimesis”, “pain threshold”, and “performance art”
By Joshua Hoffman It would not be an absurdity if one were to say that words have power. Of course they do. Words are the foundation of our society. Without … Continue Reading Thoughts on Idioms
By Nandita Modhubonti A blind woman fly fishes with her cane soft white jumper, fraying gray ends her piercing blue eyes are distracting, as I observe the early inhabitants of … Continue Reading Mirrorwork Blues
By Stephen Sossaman A ghazal Some postcards lie with I wish you were here. This states sincerely my wish you were here. My sudden sadness in Jefferson Park? Twilight birdsong … Continue Reading Postcards from Charlottesville
By John Tustin The grass will not grow where we have stepped together. The flowers will not flower in the garden And the violin sits atilt in the corner of … Continue Reading I WANT TO DIE
By Melissa Purswell There’s a letter in the console of my car buried beneath carbon copied evidence of oil changes, brake pads, a new muffler. I’ll see it every so … Continue Reading The Letter
By Diane Webster The caterpillar of rust predicts a harsher winter than average as it crawls in tiny steps, leaves behind fuzzy outline of path across metal like a pink … Continue Reading Rust Image
By Richard Dinges Jr. To live without guilt is to swim through water and not get wet. Shadows along pond’s shore form spoken words early in evening. Sun’s glare dims … Continue Reading Evening Stroll
By Frank Modica I am grapevines and olive trees heavy-laden with broken promises, working for another man’s harvest in the hot Sicilian sun, I am basil leaves torn in ragged … Continue Reading Shoebox
by Ann Kathryn Kelly In late winter, 2020, I—and the world—learned that V is for virus. Shapeless, unable to be seen, heard, smelled, tasted. Our fifth sense, touch, believed to … Continue Reading V is
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 Em Remington Being an older sister has always been a large portion of my identity. I have two brothers full biological- and a half-sister on my father’s side. For … Continue Reading A Moment
by Adele Saint-Pierre Adèle Saint-Pierre is a Franco-American artist. Besides her passion for drawing and painting, she enjoys reading, cooking, and going for long walks with her trusty beagle, Sophie. … Continue Reading The Denoument
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 Adele Saint-Pierre chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 Adèle Saint-Pierre is a Franco-American artist. Besides her passion for drawing and painting, she enjoys reading, cooking, and going for long … Continue Reading “Mary Anne and the Tanglewood Tree”